Advice on buying property?

Question

I just recently made an offer on some property with a cabin in Western NY. Problem is when we had our purchase agreement made up we went through the sellers agent because our agent wasn't avalible. We forgot to put in the contingincy that we would like a perk test done. Now we are a couple weeks away from the closing and we would like it done.(This is a recreational cabin without septic) We know it is not the sellers responsibliy but we would like to be able to do this on our own my agent is trying to say the owner is refusing because he does not want his property dug on. What should we do ??? eventuallly we want to make this cabin into more of a home but without a septic its not gonna happen.

Answer 1

From what details you provided, I'm not a lawyer and you did not specify how much of a security deposit might be at risk but if I have done several FSBOs and I deal with contracts (not real estate) everyday... If I were in your shoes:

I would draft a nice polite written letter or notice to the Seller and his agent (maybe even sending requesting return receipt) advising the Seller that you and your spouse intend to withdraw your purchase offer unless written proof is provided to the Buyer that the subject property can perc. I never realized or heard of any liveable building being built without septic but the nonsense what your Agent revealed may mean bad news that Seller knows it will not perc

In contracts since the Seller accepted your written Offer it normally requires consideration from both parties to what is referred to as a Supplemental Agreement or contract modification to the original terms and conditions.

Unfortunately you overlooked this important contingency though who knows Seller might have previous proof that it perked which is why cabin was constructed but the fact that the Seller accepted it without this important contingency is more or less your problem to deal with... I have heard of cases where Buyers were able to get back their Security Deposit normally sent to escrow (you could get sued for breach of contract but you might check with your bank if the deposit was cashed and cleared .. if not then secretively putting a stop payment before sending notice) to get the Seller and their Agents' attention.

Also important analysis on your part or your Agent esp if you are paying him/her some fee is careful evaluation of the vacation resale market in that particular locality from the view as to which party has LEVERAGE and the upperhand. That is if you pull plug, deposit amount may be trival to size and $$ of commission that sometimes Agents go out of way to insure deal goes through bec it puts cash in their wallet.

In deciding on what action and strategy to take as next step, bottomline, it looks like you and your spouse will have to decide say if Seller allows perc test and it does not pass, then worst case would be losing your entire security deposit due to oversight or proceeding forward knowing you might never be happy that unless nearest city or town eventually expands sewer that this property might not meet local ordinances? It's a very tough call and chance that if you walked out, Seller if not stupid or ignorant? might just lower price to make sale go through without property being able to perc...but it is of course up to you and your spouse to make that tough decision you will have to decide on whether yiou can peacefully live and enjoy cabin in good spirits.

Good Luck and God Bless!

Answer 2

In California, as a buyer you have the right to do all inspections necessary to satisfy your needs and your questions in regards to the property. Usually on a purchase contract there are clauses that specify the lenght of time that you can remove contingency, that applies to Loan and inspections. Also, the seller has to give the buyer Real Estate Transfer Disclosure, this disclosure will inform you with all the things that the seller should have disclosed in regards to the property, if there is no statement that pertains to your needs or inspection, then you should talk to your agent and tell him or her to talked to the selling agent or seller in regards to this matter. It's better that you resolve all this issue now rather than wait till you don't have enough time.

Answer 3

you have to know the area you are living in very ,which neighborhoods are not worth buying as they are depreciating,and which will make a good profit for you ....transitional neighborhoods offer the greatist potential for profits and undervalued homes in highly appresiating areas are also good buys, you have to constantly be searching out these properties, to really make money ,find a reasonable contractor to do your work at the home, as you should be buying at least 8 to 10 houses a month,you will want to fix and hopefully re sell within 30 to 60 days, generaly 30 days so you can flip before the first mortgage payment is due, finance them all with intrest only mortgages or principal only mortgages,although they are harder to find,always work with two or 3 mortgage companies splitting your business between them.Also knowing the neighborhood will dictate how much you will budget for upgrades,avoid anything that is not structurally sound as that is where the the budget can be blown, you want to focus on cosmetics and tweaking the floorplan if needed, it is a buyers market now so the buying is in your favor but the re sale will be tricky so you have to budget the projects wisely.It wouldnt hurt to get a real estate liscence so you can sell them yourself ,if you dont want to spend the time selling the home,find a realator and make them give you a deal on their comission for your exclusive business, make sure the relator is not a rookie and knows every trick in the book and is an excellent marketer. good luck

Answer 4

You could not wait for your agent, and went with theirs. They shouldnt be helping you at all because you wouldnt help them. If you signed the agreement and didnt ask for the perk test you are bound to that agreement. You should have had some consideration for the person who was already working for you. That is their livelyhood and you didnt seem to care about it, now you have problems and they should feel bad?

Answer 5

Does state law require that the seller allow this? Or is it typically contractual in that area?

Also, will you possibly back out of the deal depending upon the result? And do you have any contractual option to back out?

I guess you've got to decide if the risk of closing without knowing is better than what will happen if you tell them that you'll just back out if they won't ammend the contract to allow for it.