I'm selling my house and only getting about $1400 out of the sale...?

Question

In 2004, I purchased my first home. I was recently divorced, and took a loan that didn't include taxes and insurance. In 2005, I refinanced to include taxes and insurance, and also paid off my car loan. In April 2006, my mother came to me and asked me and my family if we'd be willing to move into her home since she's having a brand new one built. It's a bigger, nicer house and in an excellent part of town with really good schools that my kids go to and love. I put my house up for sale, even though I have a pre-payment penalty...and after it being listed for 5 months...I took an offer and agreed to $6000 less than my asking price, and $5500 towards closing costs...now I'm only getting $1325 out of the sale of the house!!! And now the buyer wants all these repairs done...even though they'll have about $4600 cash from closing! I know this is bad, but part of me just wants to be done with it....this house we'll be moving into will be mine and it has no mortgage....What do you think

Answer 1

It sounds like if the buyer wants lots of repairs done and you refuse the deal falls through. That might not be a bad thing.

Answer 2

I faced the same "issue" back in December. Even thought I had nearly 30k in equity in the house, I walked away with 4300. BUT I moved to a better neighborhood, better house, better price...everything. In the long run, it was worth it.

Do what you can afford. If you didn't sell the house "As is" or if the buyer has a HUD/FHA loan, then the repairs will have to be done.

You can either take this sale or hold onto the house until the "buying" market hits around April/May.

Answer 3

Do not make concessions on the repairs. If you walk out of this house with 1400 you are in a win situation. You did not lose rent money over the last two years, and got your car loan paid off. But if you walk out paying money you have damaged your current and future financial position. You own this asset and can still leverage it if needed. Tell the buyer the house comes as is. Chances are they are only asking because they think you will pay, and will buy the house anyway. Your realtor needs to negotiate this on your behalf.

Answer 4

It is VERY easy to allow the sale of your home to be influenced too much by personal feelings. What you really need to do is figure out if you did end up putting the house back on the market, would you net more money in a time frame that makes it worth it? How many more months of mortgage do you want to pay to increase your net by maybe 2 or 3 thousand dollars?..... or possibly end up selling for less!

Lastly, do not think that you're only getting $1,325 of equity after being in the house for three years - you took your equity out already in the re-finance, car paid off, escrow built up, etc.

I just noticed alot of people advising you to rent the house out. Prior to allowing this sale to die, find out what the rental market would support. If you were in San Antonio, with only this much equity, I can be sure that the rent would NOT come close to covering your mortgage.

Answer 5

I'm not an attorney, so this is not legal advice but my opinion is this:

If you want "out" of the contract, then don't do the repairs. This might cause the buyer to back out since they don't want to pay for the repairs themselves.

Then you could put the house back on the market, and get a better offer. In the meantime, make sure you keep paying your mortgage since it'll hurt your credit if you stop paying on it.

Answer 6

KEEP YOUR HOUSE: Put it up for rent, the buyer had asked for conditions that you only have to say no to. This will stop the deal cold. The rent money for the house should include $200 more per month than your mortgage. This will permit you to make improvements (they will come).

With real estate it is important to not rush when making decisions.

Answer 7

Were the repairs listed in the purchase agreement for you to do? If not, you are not liable for the repairs. Are the repairs "for cosmetic reasons"? Or for living conditions, like heater, roof, etc.

They got 4,600 after the close, so you are done.

Enjoy your new home - Thank of the money you will be saving, since you have no mortgage.

Answer 8

Take whatever you can get and be done with it. The market for selling a home isn't very good right now, and you don't want to wait another few months for another offer, which will be lower anyway. (Longer time on market equals lower selling price).

Move, and move on. Sounds like you'll have little to no housing expense at your new home, so right there, that's money in the bank.

Good luck.

Answer 9

If he defaults on the interior most loan by technique of strolling away then that "black mark" will stay with him for a lengthy time period. He needs to seem at promoting it - i recognize you're saying the marketplace is undesirable yet then he merely has to cost it correct and drop the cost till someone, all of us, buys it. Say he owes $ninety,000, if he can get $80 - 80 5 for it then a minimum of meaning he in user-friendly words has to locate 5 - 10k. I want him the finest of success.

Answer 10

A positive way to look at this situation is that you could consider these extra unexpected expenses as the price you are paying for the new house since you say you will have no mortgage on it.