And consider whether the $15K is enough to make you delay your dream? Yes, it is quite a chunk, but do you think another offer will be just around the corner?

Barb

I am not going to claim to know exactly how you feel but I can imagine your anger and frustration. You know the week I've had. Please don't lose hope yet. What did you tell me? Things will happen the way they are supposed to when it is supposed to. Believe me I know it's hard. Enjoy your weekend and let your realtor do their job. Keep us updated. Call if you need to.

I love how we are all talking each other through this...Linda if you want to chat reach out...Lee and ai were wondering how you were doing last night. All I can say is that sucks about the offer.

One door closes, another will open. Keep the faith... sending positive thoughts your way

Brian

You guys are all terrific and you are helping so much - you have no idea! :)

Sherry, Our realtor is fighting it, apparently with just what you are saying, an expanded comp search that the appraiser did not (nor do they have to) do. The buyer can walk away based on it all, this appraisal sticks for 6 months! So we will do everything we can to make this sale work. We will not benefit by letting it go, not in our area. We are lucky to have a buyer that fell in love with the house, so I believe you, it will all work out. :)

Linda, the words you said, "things will happen the way they are supposed to when it is supposed to" are so true and words I try to live by. I really don't understand how appraisals work. Our buyer's appraisal came in exactly at the offer price (not our listing price) which made me wonder if the bank knew the amount in advance and just gave a yay or nay and didn't actually look at any comps. I'm glad your realtor is fighting it, especially if the comps in the area say otherwise. I understand the pain and frustration. Just hang in there and it will all work out in the end.

Meanwhile, we were supposed to hear of a mortgage commitment by May 15th. On May 16th they asked for an extension until the 23rd. Today is the 24th and we still haven't heard anything, and probably won't until Tuesday. Meanwhile the buyers asked us if we could move out next week and rent to them until closing (the date of which hasn't even been confirmed, as they still don't have a commitment!).

Ripples - just lots of ripples. But you'll get through it. I promise!

Keep focused on the goal at hand and hopefully some sort of compromise can be worked out. I don't think it would matter for the FHA loan process, but if you had your own appraisal done perhaps it might get the buyers to understand the appraisals are perhaps not always created equal. Through the whole mortgage crisis, they have really tightened down the appraisal process. Last year we were buying a rental (which needed some work) and the appraisal came in higher than the purchase price and the bank still wouldn't loan us the money based on the condition of the house--even with 25% down. CRAZY!! Tell that story only because it shows how whacked (and still broken) the system is. Fingers crossed that they are able to get something worked out....

Positive vibes being sent your way. Hopefully your realtor will have some good solutions and buyers may have options to go with other financing. Stay strong and keep focused!

Ugh Cheryl, that is awful! Well we will certainly remember Memorial Day weekend.

Greg & Cori the "system" is broken and just awful - why we are getting out of it right?

Les & Sue, Jo & Ben - thank you so much - I love waking up (I finally slept) and reading your heart felt encouragement.

RV-Dreamers are just awesome - we feel very blessed.

LibertyLinda wrote

Les & Sue, Jo & Ben - thank you so much - I love waking up (I finally slept) and reading your heart felt encouragement.

RV-Dreamers are just awesome - we feel very blessed.

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So glad you slept...that's important.  We've been thinking about you guys this weekend and as much as I hate when people say his to me :) I know you'll be fine.  You are deeply committed to making this work  and your both smart and kind people.  So I will pass along what my dad (who is not a risk taker ) said to me when I told him my plans... "Your smart...you will figure it out."  His words come back to me often because for him that was his highest endorsement of the plan. 

You guys will figure this out and make it happen ...not a doubt in my mind. 

 

Trace 

Linda,

There are several on this Forum and elsewhere that have gone through similar issues.  Being a former real estate attorney, I've seen countless contracts fall through for countless reasons.  We try not to celebrate contracts, only closings with cash in hand because we've seen it so often. 

I know it's disappointing, but hang in there.  My advice would be to make sure your realtor is pushing harder than ever to get back-up contracts.  That will give the buyers and their realtor even more incentive to get their financing worked out.  Or, you could even offer the realtors an extra percentage point of commission if they can make the deal happen within a certain number of days - a side contract signed by both realtors and you.  We used that technique successfully ourselves.

As for back-up contracts, a little price break on your end will be worth it if you get an offer 1) for cash, 2) with conventional mortgage financing, and/or 3) with no contingencies on the sale of the buyer's house.

IF this deal falls through, make sure you are priced correctly.  Have your realtor go over his/her market analysis with you and discuss in detail what the realtor is doing for you to get the house sold.  The 80/20 rule applies in real estate - 80% of the houses are sold by 20% of the realtors, so you can't assume they all have the ability you need.  Make him/her earn that commission.

As for the current deal, if it turns out you have to drop the price to make it work, you have to balance the time it will take to get another contract with the number of additional mortgage payments you may have to make and the drop in price.  Sometimes, it really is best to take the price hit for a quicker sale especially if the house is unique, in a higher price range, or has simply been on the market a long time.

We know folks that have rejected lower offers and sold a year or two later.  The following sometimes happens:  1) they make mortgage payments that end up being more than the amount they would have "lost" by taking the lower offer, or 2) they end up selling the house for the lower amount, or worse yet, for an even lower amount than the offer they rejected, or 3) they finally get the price they want, but they have made mortgage payments that have depleted their cash reserves to the point where they would have been in the same position as taking the lower offer, BUT they gave up a year or two of their lives to get there.

We also know of a couple that finally got their price, but it turned out to be a fraudulent offer accepted by the real estate agent who failed to collect the appropriate earnest money.  The sellers were excited and took the property off the market, but imagine their shock when the deal went bad, there was no earnest money to compensate them for damages, and they had to go back to the drawing board.  Fortunately, the realtor/broker realized their huge mistake and settled with the sellers before they got sued, but imagine the additional stress of dealing with all that.

Every situation is different, and I'm not encouraging you to take a $15,000 hit.  However, I do want you to know that your aren't alone in dealing with home sale contract problems, there are things you can do that may help the situation, there are pro-active steps you can take, and in the overall scheme of things that $15,000 hit (or whatever it is) may not be as bad as it looks given the totality of the circumstances.

It'll work out, and feel free to email me if you want to discuss your specific situation in more detail.  Perhaps I can help, or perhaps not.       

Have all of the inspections been completed?  With FHA financing there can sometimes be several things to "fix" before the deal can be closed.  I do not want to alarm you any more but FHA contracts usually take a bit longer than regular financing.  Like others have said continue to market the property.  Good luck!

When we finally sold our house last year our listing agreement had expired and we had decided to take it off the market until the summer. The offer came in much lower than our listing price. We negotiated a bit then did some real hard thinking. A friend suggested to look at what the total cost would be each year we keep it and drop the price at least that amount. Hard to accept but it did make sense since it would have taken at least another year to sell in our market. So our final counter offer was at that price. They accepted and the sale went through. Now it was hard to accept at first what we considered a loss, but when all is said and done it was a big relief to be done with it and finally realize our dream to full-time. And after over a year we wish we would have dropped the price sooner to be able to full-time earlier. You never what is around the corner that could change your plans.
Good luck with the sale!

Unlike Cherie, we went a full three years in trying to sell our home and 3/4 acre lot.  Granted, we went on the market right at the bust of the housing market and other related economic situation.  After some time, our realtor told us that they were not having problems selling homes that were under $200,000.  Likewise, except for REALLY expensive places, places over $300,000 were selling fairly well.  Our price on the house was less than $250,000 and we went two and a half years with little interest.

After that 2 1/2 years, we went "for sale by owner" and had it sold in about 6 months.  But, even then, we took a loss on the house, although we figured we came out ahead by not having to keep paying that hefty mortgage payment.

Keep up the faith.  Things will work out, although you might have to give a bit.

Terry

Linda,

Sorry late on this, Howard is correct. A Lot of contracts fall through and you should have your realtor looking for other buyers even as you are negotiating with this one. We have been in a similar situation. our house had a VA mortgage on it when we bought it, but at first they would not approve our VA loan. It took a few hundred dollars to fix a couple of things and send them a copy of the other VA loan and a new appraisal to get it done, but it finally went through.

BTW appraisal's can be so different from one person to the next. We had three different appraiser's out before we listed and the price varied by 43,000.00, so if you still have your buyers. ask for a different appraisal, if possible. Then also ask for one familiar with your area. Some mortgage companies send apprasier's from miles away and different sections of the city they are unfamiliar with.

cherylbrv wrote:

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In the "I'm not happy unless I have something to worry about" department:...

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 ... Cheryl, Cheryl, Cheryl....  I hear the following domain name is available.... www.worrywarts.com   Seriously, I'm thinking about putting the champagne back on the shelf, and I was soooooo ready to toast your successful sale.

Brian

cherylbrv wrote:

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Or maybe I can have that champagne in advance so I can forget about it all?     

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 I make killer Margaritas to do that

oh I'm sorry you're going through this.
Last year we took a huge loss on the sale of our farm and now are working to recoup that loss. But even so, dh and I are living in our rv and having a wonderful time. We've traveled some, not a whole lot, but enough to get a feel for it, and are still really happy we took the money and ran--or drove away, as it turns out.
I hope you get what you need to start your rv life very soon.

biggaRView wrote:

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cherylbrv wrote:

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In the "I'm not happy unless I have something to worry about" department:...

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 ... Cheryl, Cheryl, Cheryl....  I hear the following domain name is available.... www.worrywarts.com   Seriously, I'm thinking about putting the champagne back on the shelf, and I was soooooo ready to toast your successful sale.

Brian

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 oo  oh BRIAN, you DONT know the half of it... I have to LIVE with this. and the PRESSURE, on me... now july 31st, only 4 more days.

 

OK: Quick status report.

 

ALL of our furniture is gone.

Dining room set?  gone a month ago

Kitchen table/chairs? left thursday

Recliner in the living room? Gone.

Bedroom set? Gone thursday.

 

Now living out of plastic boxes and a queen sized air matress.

 

WOW...

Most people sell their houses and have a moving van take out the furniture, we will be leaving with just a few boxes.

 

looking forward to joining the class of '14... real soon

 

But our lawyer told us most closings only have a 2 day advance notice, so still looks good, so keep the champagne CHILLED. 

 

And I think we WILL be at the Sept Rally in Goshen this fall

-- Edited by cheryls-other-half on Saturday 31st of May 2014 09:58:48 PM

So sorry to hear this and hope things will work out for you. I can't imagine how you feel or what  we would do if in your situation other than pray and ask for prayer as you are doing.  But I just want to post a word of encouragement for others that are beginning this journey are thinking about it. 

We took the first actual steps on our journey the first part of April by placing our home on the market thinking that would give us a few months to sell our furniture and dispose of other items. In 16 days we had a contract and the couple was wanting to close asap since was a cash sale but we were able to put them off until the first of May and going with an offer 5000.00 lower than our asking price. 

I realize that we were blessed by how quickly and how easy the process moved along and reading this post makes me even more thankful. WOW.  It can go either way but you will never know until you put forth the effort and see how things go. Our prayers are with you as you work through this problem.

 

God Bless

Nancy Faulkenberry 

OK Cheryl, the 4th has come and gone. Did y'all close?

While I can't say that this is gospel truth as of this moment, the owner of the truck and trailer that Cheryl and Mitch are buying said on another forum that he had just sold his rig.

Now, did he really sell it and Cheryl and Mitch are now in it, or was he pulling someone's leg.

I guess we won't know until the "kids" check back in.

Terry

Joe_Camper wrote:

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OK Cheryl, the 4th has come and gone. Did y'all close?

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See my post called "Where's the mojo?"  No, I did not close yet, although I did leave my S&B and am a wandering nomad without a place to be.  Crashing at my daughter's for now, but we'll probably need to find a hotel for the next few days.  I guess I can use a little encouragement too.

Thanks for the update, and it is great news that he is taking care of the brake pads for you.  That will be one less issue for you to worry about.

Terry

I am really sorry hon... At least your done with it. I know small consolation but there are so many wonderful things in front of you guys hopefully this will be a small blip in the rear view mirror.