A couple, friends of mine moved from Northern Virginia down to
Florida, about two months ago. They bought their first house, while
dealing with realtor and the bank over the phone. A family member who
lives in that area took few pictures for them so they knew what the
house looked like and stuff like that. So when they went down there to
sign the deal, in the closing time it was disclosed to them that the
house had previous work done back in 2000 I believe, something about
the house sinking into the ground and how they made a repair on it. My
friends came all the way down to find that out, but they bought the
house anyways. As the husband is a good general contractor he thought
he could fix the uneven celing. But as weeks are passing, they are
realizing how horribly the house is crooked, as if it's sinking again.
Now all the way is to sell it back to the bank, and come back to
Virginia because the house is not even and seems to be sinking despite
their work in 2000, plus all the hurracaines are getting to them.

To me this sounded like they were misled in the first place about the
house. I don't think that house is worth what it was sold as. Not for
a house that is uneven, about three four inches off from one side to
the other. They have a little girl who's learning to walk, and I see
this as hazardeus for her. Their contracts binds them that they can't
sell the house for the next 3 years. Now to me that is so harsh, as
the realtor/bank had to had known this house problem. What can they do
legally? Hire a laywer and sue them for misleading and hazardous
environment? They are also thinking of bancruptcy as a way out of that
huge buying the house mistake.

Any help would be appreciated!!!! Thanks!!!

Jass

In Florida, a Seller is obligated to disclose to a Buyer all
known facts that materially affect the value of the property
being sold and that are not readily observable.

It appears that the sellers *did* disclose the pertinent facts
in this case, before the closing. Unless your friends can
prove that there were other pertinent facts known to the
sellers that they did not disclose, they have no legal grounds
to reverse the sale. It sounds to me like they didn't do
their homework and they're paying the price for it.

I'm curious what kind of contract binds them from selling the
house for three years; that's not typical in the home sale
contracts I've seen. Who, exactly, is prohibiting them from
selling the house?

"Jass" wrote in message
om...
A couple, friends of mine moved from Northern Virginia down to
Florida, about two months ago. They bought their first house, while
dealing with realtor and the bank over the phone. A family member who
lives in that area took few pictures for them so they knew what the
house looked like and stuff like that. So when they went down there to
sign the deal, in the closing time it was disclosed to them that the
house had previous work done back in 2000 I believe, something about
the house sinking into the ground and how they made a repair on it. My
friends came all the way down to find that out, but they bought the
house anyways. As the husband is a good general contractor he thought
he could fix the uneven celing. But as weeks are passing, they are
realizing how horribly the house is crooked, as if it's sinking again.
Now all the way is to sell it back to the bank, and come back to
Virginia because the house is not even and seems to be sinking despite
their work in 2000, plus all the hurracaines are getting to them.

To me this sounded like they were misled in the first place about the
house. I don't think that house is worth what it was sold as. Not for
a house that is uneven, about three four inches off from one side to
the other. They have a little girl who's learning to walk, and I see
this as hazardeus for her. Their contracts binds them that they can't
sell the house for the next 3 years. Now to me that is so harsh, as
the realtor/bank had to had known this house problem. What can they do
legally? Hire a laywer and sue them for misleading and hazardous
environment? They are also thinking of bancruptcy as a way out of that
huge buying the house mistake.

Any help would be appreciated!!!! Thanks!!!

Jass

We had a similiar situation. We were under a huge time constraint when my
husband obtained a job in a different state and we had 2 days to find a
house. Had we known then what we know now, we would have rented a house and
waited to purchase, when we weren't under such pressure.

Our house had many issues, none of them were disclosed to us at the time.
After my husband was laid off and the housing market in the town where we
lived fell drastically, we decided to transfer the lien back to the mortgage
company. This was our only way out, since we couldn't sell the house.

We paid $96,000 for the house, and 18 months later, after my husband and
many others in this small town were laid off, our house appraised for
$73,000.

Our only option was to do a "Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure". It took about 2
months and we had to keep our payments up to date, but it was such a relief
to finally be out from under that money-pit.

We did this back in April of this year and it's not yet on our credit
report, and hopefully it never will.

HTH,
Brigitte

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 15:17:35 GMT, someone wrote:


We had a similiar situation. We were under a huge time constraint when my
husband obtained a job in a different state and we had 2 days to find a
house.

Well, apparently you know better now. NO WAY were you under a "huge
time constraint" or compulsion to BUY a house in 2 days. Actually, it
can be a poor idea. I find it amazing that corporate relo folks even
manage to be happy buying houses after a couple of weeks of visits.

Ok you had to find a place to LIVE - but even so, you could stay in a
motel for a week while you looked for a decent RENTAL - and then buy
in a year, after you have gotten to know the area, AND after making
sure the job and the community worked out for you. There ae many
things you may not know about a community until you've been there a
while.

I have heard too many stories about people who moved, and then the new
job didn't work out, and/or the family hated the new location, and the
people took a bath bailing out and moving "home". NEVER buy in a
hurry!!!!!

"v" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 15:17:35 GMT, someone wrote:


We had a similiar situation. We were under a huge time constraint when
my
husband obtained a job in a different state and we had 2 days to find a
house.

Well, apparently you know better now. NO WAY were you under a "huge
time constraint" or compulsion to BUY a house in 2 days. Actually, it
can be a poor idea. I find it amazing that corporate relo folks even
manage to be happy buying houses after a couple of weeks of visits.

Ok you had to find a place to LIVE - but even so, you could stay in a
motel for a week while you looked for a decent RENTAL - and then buy
in a year, after you have gotten to know the area, AND after making
sure the job and the community worked out for you. There ae many
things you may not know about a community until you've been there a
while.

I have heard too many stories about people who moved, and then the new
job didn't work out, and/or the family hated the new location, and the
people took a bath bailing out and moving "home". NEVER buy in a
hurry!!!!!

I guess you missed this part of my post:

"Had we known then what we know now, we would have rented a house and
waited to purchase"

Brigitte

"Jass" wrote in message
om...
To me this sounded like they were misled in the first place about the
house. I don't think that house is worth what it was sold as. Not for
a house that is uneven, about three four inches off from one side to
the other. They have a little girl who's learning to walk, and I see
this as hazardeus for her. Their contracts binds them that they can't
sell the house for the next 3 years. Now to me that is so harsh, as
the realtor/bank had to had known this house problem. What can they do
legally? Hire a laywer and sue them for misleading and hazardous
environment? They are also thinking of bancruptcy as a way out of that
huge buying the house mistake.

Any help would be appreciated!!!! Thanks!!!

They need advice from a lawyer who specializes in real estate law in their
state. Getting advice in Usenet can only go so far. State laws differ so
much on this.

On 8 Sep 2004 01:56:16 -0700, someone wrote:

A couple, friends of mine moved from Northern Virginia down to
Florida, about two months ago. They bought their first house, while
dealing with realtor and the bank over the phone.

That is such an idiotic way to BUY a house, and they got what they
deserved.


... My
friends came all the way down to find that out, but they bought the
house anyways.

Doubling the idiocy.


They have a little girl who's learning to walk, and I see
this as hazardeus for her.

Get real. The real problem they have is bad enough, without having to
fantasize additional problems in a ploy for sympathy (endangering a
child - oh how awful!) Bulldinky.


Their contracts binds them that they can't
sell the house for the next 3 years.

I don't believe you. Post the part of the contract that says they
can't sell.


Sorry, caveat emptor.

-v.

V,

I didn't come here to argue with you! I didn't come here to get
simpathy, I came here to see what their options might be. They do have
a little girl, and she is learning to walk, and I'm sure you wouldn't
want to see your child try to walk in a house that is 3 inches off
from one end to the next end! Obviously this house should had never
been approved to be sold!!! It's too late to criticize their decision,
all I wanted is some imput on what they could do. So if you had
nothing useful to say, keep it to yourself.


(v) wrote in message ...
On 8 Sep 2004 01:56:16 -0700, someone wrote:

A couple, friends of mine moved from Northern Virginia down to
Florida, about two months ago. They bought their first house, while
dealing with realtor and the bank over the phone.

That is such an idiotic way to BUY a house, and they got what they
deserved.


... My
friends came all the way down to find that out, but they bought the
house anyways.

Doubling the idiocy.


They have a little girl who's learning to walk, and I see
this as hazardeus for her.

Get real. The real problem they have is bad enough, without having to
fantasize additional problems in a ploy for sympathy (endangering a
child - oh how awful!) Bulldinky.


Their contracts binds them that they can't
sell the house for the next 3 years.

I don't believe you. Post the part of the contract that says they
can't sell.


Sorry, caveat emptor.

-v.

(Jass) writes:
They do have
a little girl, and she is learning to walk, and I'm sure you wouldn't
want to see your child try to walk in a house that is 3 inches off
from one end to the next end!

Sorry, I'm with v. on this one. Having watched my three kids learn to
walk, I can't imagine that a 3-inch rise from one side of our house to
the other would have made a bit of difference in either how fast they
learned or how "hazardous" it was.

Also, the height of the rise is irrelevant to how hard it is for a
young kid to walk it; what is relevant is the angle. So what's the
angle of elevation that you think is so hazardous to this kid?

Obviously this house should had never
been approved to be sold!!!

A homeowner is not obligated to get "approval" to sell.

Obviously, a homeowner can't sell a house that has been condemned
without informing potential buyers of that fact, but you've provided no
evidence to suggest that the house was ever condemned. Indeed, as I
pointed out before, you explicitly stated in your original posting that
the sellers informed your friends about the prior work on the house and
the problems that work was intended to correct. Unless your friends
can prove that the sellers knowingly misled them or withheld
information, they've got no grounds to attempt to reverse the sale.

It's too late to criticize their decision,
all I wanted is some imput on what they could do.

They can retain a lawyer who specializes in Florida real estate law
and ask the lawyer to evaluate the facts and tell them what their
options are. The advice you, or they, get from this newsgroup is
worth what you paid for it.

Your friends behaved ignorantly and foolishly in their purchase, and
you're doing the same thing in your postings here. It seems like
hiring a good lawyer to help with this mess might be the first good
thing you or your friends do with this situation.

Wow what a google group! All I wanted is some info, and you are
calling me names. Ridiculous waste of my time!!!

(Jass) writes:
Wow what a google group!

It isn't "a google group," it's a Usenet newsgroup. Google
didn't invent the Usenet, nor does it own it. It is merely
one interface to it.

All I wanted is some info, and you are
calling me names. Ridiculous waste of my time!!!

I didn't call you names. I applied unappealing adjectives to
your questions and to the actions of your friends. I'm sorry
you find those adjectives unappealing, but they are,
nevertheless, correct. You and your friends will be in a lot
better position if you stop resisting that reality.

You've already been given the only useful advice you're going
to get from this newsgroup -- your friends need to hire a
good lawyer.

"Jass" wrote in message
m...
Wow what a google group! All I wanted is some info, and you are
calling me names. Ridiculous waste of my time!!!

You are right. Responses that call you names contribute nothing and do
nothing to help the problem. But advice to contact an attorney does.

On 9 Sep 2004 00:08:22 -0700, someone wrote:

Wow what a google group! All I wanted is some info, and you are
calling me names. Ridiculous waste of my time!!!

Well, that's what you SAID you wanted, but it appears that you really
only want "advice" that AGREES with your hypothesis that your friends
were "misled" and deserve some compensation.

The answer you are getting is that they were foolish and got what they
got. And then you say to keep that to ourselves. You asked, we
answered.

Why aren't your "friends" posting themselves, why are you in the loop?
If there really are any "friends", then apparently you were hoping to
be a hero bringing them an answer from the internet - but since you
can't get the answer you want, now you call it a waste of time.

If the slope is so bad - and since you say the husband is a CONTRACTOR
- why didn't they notice it when they inspected the house before
closing on it????

Sorry you don't like my advice. But you posted a public Q, so ANYONE
who wants to can comment on it. That's the internet for you.

-v.

On 8 Sep 2004 18:12:19 -0700, someone wrote:


... It's too late to criticize their decision,
all I wanted is some imput on what they could do. So if you had
nothing useful to say, keep it to yourself.

It could be very useful to the NEXT person. On a public forum, its
not just about your friends.

-v.

But as weeks are passing, they are
realizing how horribly the house is crooked, as if it's sinking again.



Not to worry: we vacation in a sinking, crooked house every year, and
have for over 25 years. Every few years we get one corner of it
'jacked up' with cement blocks. It isn't the end of the world.