On Sunday, August 17, 2014 5:58:49 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sunday, August 17, 2014 3:27:38 PM UTC-6, trader_4 wrote:

There's a lot here we;re not privy too, like what exactly the "objections

ammendment" is. It sounds like they signed a standard contract that says

they were to do inspections by Aug 11 and give any objections you by the 13th.



Your dates are correct. The standard contract the buyer and I (the seller) signed in late July also has an added, non-standard clause stating "existing home inspection will be reviewed for buyer to accept or decline." I went in knowing the buyer might want another inspection. Also in the standard contract I agreed to pay for a home warranty at closing. I do not like home warranties but my paying for one was a part of the three rounds of negotiation in late July. All the damn realtors push them around here, to largely unsuspecting clientele.



I still don't understand what the "objections ammendment" was all about.
They had a date to get an inspection done by, another date to get to you any
issues regarding things to be fixed. The contract also states that the
buyer gets the less than a year old inspection to accept or decline. You
provided that, right? I would say the fact that they did nothing about
another inspection, is acceptance of the existing inspection report.
And failure to notify anyone of any defect list based on it by the Aug 13
deadline, closes the window for that too.

From the above, if they got
nothing signed, then they had to Aug 11 to get a new inspection and they
had till Aug 13 to get you the fix-it list based on either that new
inspection, if done, or anything off the old inspection they want to
check, oject to, etc. Both those deadlines passed.

So, what exactly was the purpose of this objections ammendment that
got lost and never exectuted? Why wasn't whatever it concerns included
in the signed contract from day 1?





Then the buyer sent some "objections ammendment" on Aug 4, that you didn't

receive until Aug 14. Not clear what exactly that was about, but the buyer

is pretty dumb, because they are bound by the original contract that both

parties signed.



I hope what I wrote above clarifies that the buyer did not do anything wrong, at least in my eyes.



I think they did do something wrong, which is to drop the ball. They were
the ones wanting an ammendment of some kind, right? It was up to them to
make sure they got some response. If I was a buyer and I got no response,
I'd be calling, checking, especially as deadlines approached. What they
did wrong has only resulted in them screwing themselves.




Did you even know that they were planning on sending this

ammendment? They can propose anything they want, but there is no

guarantee you'd accept it.



Agreed, but the 10-day delay that (1)resulted in a deadline not being met; and (2) was neither the buyer's nor the seller's fault, has put the rush on, in my view.

Who exactly did drop the ball? Better if it's their realtor. And did you
know for sure that they were sending a proposed ammendment and what it was
supposed to contain?



I feel like one never knows what home inspectors will come up with. For example, my roof had around 25 sq. feet of new shingles added last year, per the 2013 inspection, but the next inspection may yield an inspector who says this is not good enough.



Yes, that's always the risk. Which is why I suggested telling them that
they missed their inspection window, you've fixed X, Y, Z per the less than
a year old inspection. They can either accept that, come look, or hire an
inspector at their own cost. I'm starting to think the last part is not
the best idea either, for reasons you poiont out later.....




Presumably that amendment concerned doing the

inspection, whatever, but they and the realtors involved should know that

the original contract is what governs, unless you want to accept the amendment.



Agreed, with the caveat that I know it is in both the buyer's and my interest to be cooperative and have some flexibility, assuming both still want the sale to happen.



There was no ammendment and the two deadlines passed.



The buyer did send the amendment a week+ before all deadlines. The problem is that, due to the two realtors' being slovenly (IMO), I did not get the amendment until 10 days later and after the deadlines passed.



If it's their realtor fault, better for you. But I'd say even if your realtor
dropped the ball, it's tough luck for them. They signed the contract, with
the deadlines for inspections. It was up to them, their realtor, their
lawyer, if they have one, etc to keep track of their contractual obligations.





I will be calling my realtor regularly now, believe me, whenever anything is due, and making him call the other realtor or the other realtor's company whenever communications seem frozen.



So, from what is given, looks like you have two choices:



A - Rework that ammendment agreement into what is agreeable to both of

you regarding inspections, new dates, etc and both parties sign it.











B - Tell them that the inspection window has passed, they missed two

explicit deadlines, one for the inspection to be done by Aug 11 and

the other for any list of fixes to be provided to you by Aug 13.



I think my position would be to tell them in a letter, in a nice way,

that they missed the deadlines, the opportunity for an inspection has

passed, but that

you've fixed X, Y, Z etc from the previous report, which they have and

if they want to verify that, they can do it themselves or hire an inspector

of their own. Again, we don't know what the defects were. If it's

stuff like a dripping faucet, downspouts need spash-blocks, dishwasher not

working, they should be satsified to just see those things themselves.



They were minor and nearly all fixed. The one item I did not address was cracked [plastic?] glazings at the window. I do not know if this is really repairable.



If the defect is that the roof is falling in, well that's another story..



Right. It's not. It's in good shape but old, for sure.



And I'd tell them in the letter that if they want to accept the opportunity

to reinspect, they only have until Aug X, to do so.



If they push back on B, you could still agree to A later.



I think maybe one other option that is a bit tempting is to tell the two realtors they can now pay for the home inspection and warranty, or the deal is off. I know they do not get 6% commission; their companies do, and they get a tiny slice of this.



Thank you for thinking this through.

I don't think you want to do that option. So far, from what you've told us
so far, you're 100% in the right.
If you now interject some new condition, then you're breaching the solid,
existing contract, by altering the existing terms. The existing contract
is clear and the deadlines have passed.

You shouldn't feel sorry for them here. Deadlines are there for a
purpose. You want the house sold, it's costing you money, taxes, etc. They
missed the deadlines and it wasn't your fault, so I don;t see the need to pay for an inspection to possibly let them out of a solid deal. They could do
an inspection, then bitch about thousands worth of crap.

What other possible outs do they have at this point? Are they getting
a mortgage with a mortgage contigency? If yes, then do you have a
committment letter yet? If they have that as an out, you need to
proceed more cautiously, because they could queer the mortgage deal
to get out of the purchase. If you have a committment letter, then
you're in a much better position.

One other thing worth considering is that maybe this miss isn't so
innocent. Maybe they are having cold feet, want out, etc. You never
know for sure what people are up to......