The saga continues......

[DawnM]

6 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

question - can he still sell with the liens? Like, In my head I thought he could, but the proceeds of the sale would first go to pay off the liens, then he gets whatever is left over. Or is it beyond liens and into foreclosure? 

It is two different issues.   Yes, he can sell with liens, but he chose to lie on the disclosure and say there were no liens on the property.   Lying is a breech of contract.   Then the second issue is that he filed for bankruptcy and foreclosure, and so he is not legally able to sell the house anyway.

[ktgrok]

12 minutes ago, DawnM said:

It is two different issues.   Yes, he can sell with liens, but he chose to lie on the disclosure and say there were no liens on the property.   Lying is a breech of contract.   Then the second issue is that he filed for bankruptcy and foreclosure, and so he is not legally able to sell the house anyway.

yikes, yeah, sounds like he sure does owe you that DD money, since contract says it will be returned to you if he breeches the contract. 

[Grace Hopper]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Dawn, can you also sue all these idiots for your attorney costs, plus interest while the money was tied up since it was a fraud, plus damages? Make this a $40,000 lawsuit or something? If you could, an attorney might take it without retainer in exchange for 30% but then even after that is deducted from $40,000, your take would be $28,000. This seems VERY reasonable to me given the level of fraud from the owners and their agent plus the incompetence of your agent.

100%

[Tap]

I can't believe all the craziness you have been thru!!! I have to say, that if you are using the same realtor for signing your original house, I would REQUIRE her Broker to review everything! There is so much incompetence on her part of all of this, I think I would absolutely be filing a complaint against her license once it is all done. Or file it now.... and have the broker finish the paperwork.  This wasn't just a simple oopsy! This is gross incompetence and could cost you thousands and a ton of hassle even if you do win in court.

[DawnM]

UPdate:

So, it turns out that the $10k that is sitting in escrow, can only be accessed by either party if ALL parties sign off on it.   Of course he isn't signing it over to me and keeps sending us emails telling us he is entitled to that money.

The only way to get it back is to go to court.   

We are meeting with an attorney this afternoon and will see what he says about how to get ALL of it back.

The good news is that he has a long list of law suits he has been embroiled in and he has refused to get an attorney for any of them and has represented himself.   He has lost all of them.   He is an IDIOT!   And I feel sorry for his wife who is about 20 years younger and from another country.   I am sure he is a jerk to her.

But we have to go to court.

[DawnM]

And an update on the sale of our house:

Monday we close on that strip of land and then the buyers will pay us the due diligence still owed and if they back out beyond that, we get to keep their $10k they put down as DD.   I will feel a little safer at that point with the sale going through.

They have had MANY folks out here to get quotes on fixing things, so we don't know what they will be requesting us to fix.   I think it will be somewhat steep, but with a full price offer, we have a little more wiggle room.

Meanwhile, our realtor is still an idiot.   We ask direct questions and she goes off on some tangent about something unrelated.   I asked her point blank yesterday if she has someone overseeing everything she is doing because at this point we need everything checked by someone with more experience.   I knew there was someone, I just wanted her to hear that we are expecting that because of her incompetence.

[TechWife]

On 9/18/2023 at 7:34 PM, Pawz4me said:

FWIW -- We've bought and sold four homes in NC and have never paid any due diligence money. A thousand or two in earnest money, yes. But no DD ever. But we bought this house 7.5 years ago, before the housing market here went bonkers. So I don't know if things have changed or not. I wouldn't doubt it, given how in demand homes are. Some of y'all might not want to move here, but hordes of people do, and that may be what's driving the crazy.

When we sold our house in 2020 we were paid due diligence by the buyer. The due diligence went into effect between the time we bought and sold that house. 

We had a house built for us and didn’t pay due diligence because the house was never up for sale & so It wasn’t taken off if the market for us. 

[TechWife]

On 9/18/2023 at 1:15 PM, Bambam said:

I agree with this. Wow - I've marked NC off the list of possible retirement places. This due diligence stuff seems bizarre. 

It’s really not. It’s compensation to the seller for taking the house off of the market. It only costs the buyer money when they back out of the sale.

Buyers can put whatever they want to in their offer contract. They could add a contingency that repairs identified through inspection not exceed a given percentage of the listing price, or that there not be any identified problems with the foundation or the HVAC, for example. 

That said, even though the market has slowed, it’s still very hot here with people getting many offers, so buyers are competing for their purchase. The seller will typically take the highest offer with the fewest contingencies. It can be hard to buy a house before you can close off the sale of your old house for this reason. This puts a lot of people into apartments temporarily and drives the cost of apartments up and causes a shortage of available apartments. 

[Faith-manor]

3 hours ago, DawnM said:

UPdate:

So, it turns out that the $10k that is sitting in escrow, can only be accessed by either party if ALL parties sign off on it.   Of course he isn't signing it over to me and keeps sending us emails telling us he is entitled to that money.

The only way to get it back is to go to court.   

We are meeting with an attorney this afternoon and will see what he says about how to get ALL of it back.

The good news is that he has a long list of law suits he has been embroiled in and he has refused to get an attorney for any of them and has represented himself.   He has lost all of them.   He is an IDIOT!   And I feel sorry for his wife who is about 20 years younger and from another country.   I am sure he is a jerk to her.

But we have to go to court.

His wife really should cut and run. One of these days he is going to end up in jail for fraud, and if she isn't divorced from him with her finances disentangle from his, she may end up in the slammer too. It is nuts for her to stay with someone like that.

[DawnM]

Monday we close on the strip of land.  

Just realized we close on the house on Oct 10 so we have 3 weekends including this one, to get ALL of our stuff out.

I am making a game plan today and we are getting another storage unit.

Today is garage attic pack up and if time, closets (storage/kids' rooms/bathroom/linen).  And I also really need to get the attic spaces packed up.   Most of it is already out, but I want to get the leftovers.

We need to find help for the bulky/heavy stuff.   With our boys away at college, we need some strong guys to help us.   Not sure where to find them, but we will.   A friend has offered his sons, so we may enlist their help (and pay them......do you think $30/hour is fair?)

[Faith-manor]

36 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Monday we close on the strip of land.  

Just realized we close on the house on Oct 10 so we have 3 weekends including this one, to get ALL of our stuff out.

I am making a game plan today and we are getting another storage unit.

Today is garage attic pack up and if time, closets (storage/kids' rooms/bathroom/linen).  And I also really need to get the attic spaces packed up.   Most of it is already out, but I want to get the leftovers.

We need to find help for the bulky/heavy stuff.   With our boys away at college, we need some strong guys to help us.   Not sure where to find them, but we will.   A friend has offered his sons, so we may enlist their help (and pay them......do you think $30/hour is fair?)

I think a lot of young people trying to pick up weekend work for extra cash would be satisfied with $30 an hour. It is hard work though. Very hard. So I would also keep doughnuts and coffee around in the morning for fun, and get good pizza and salad for lunch so folks can eat as they need to and well, in my experience, twenty something males will do a LOT for good pizza, unlike females who are like "for lobster and chocolate truffles maybe, but pizza ain't gonna fly". 😂

[DawnM]

4 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I think a lot of young people trying to pick up weekend work for extra cash would be satisfied with $30 an hour. It is hard work though. Very hard. So I would also keep doughnuts and coffee around in the morning for fun, and get good pizza and salad for lunch so folks can eat as they need to and well, in my experience, twenty something males will do a LOT for good pizza, unlike females who are like "for lobster and chocolate truffles maybe, but pizza ain't gonna fly". 😂

We are willing to pay more, I just didn't know what to pay.   If I pay the same as paying professionals, I will just hire the professionals, you know?

[lmrich]

We hired a kids from our  church youth group. What worked best was to make an assembly line to move boxes quickly from  point A  to point  B. We avoided injury this way and it made it a bit more fun. 

For the attic have one person in the attic, one agile person on the ladder, and then  a sting  of folks to get it downstairs. Then when the attic is emptied, move  the pile to the moving truck. 

and lots of food - I kept a bowl of  wrapped snacks out  and two  coolers of drinks out throughout  the day.

good luck!😊

[DawnM]

We just got a 3rd storage unit.     We are looking around and kind of freaking out at all the stuff we still have!

DH and I talked, we are going to tackle the garage and garage attic first so we have space to bring boxes and stuff as we are packing up.   

 

[DawnM]

Just now, lmrich said:

We hired a kids from our  church youth group. What worked best was to make an assembly line to move boxes quickly from  point A  to point  B. We avoided injury this way and it made it a bit more fun. 

For the attic have one person in the attic, one agile person on the ladder, and then  a sting  of folks to get it downstairs. Then when the attic is emptied, move  the pile to the moving truck. 

and lots of food - I kept a bowl of  wrapped snacks out  and two  coolers of drinks out throughout  the day.

good luck!😊

Oh, no, we can move the boxes ourselves, we only need help with the heavy items.  we have moved a lot of it already, but we have 3 dressers, two beds, desks, gym equipment, and dining room and office furniture to move, that is all we really need help with.   

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Oh, no, we can move the boxes ourselves, we only need help with the heavy items.  we have moved a lot of it already, but we have 3 dressers, two beds, desks, gym equipment, and dining room and office furniture to move, that is all we really need help with.   

Oh, okay. I still think they will do it for $30 an hour and a donut if they do not have to drive too far.

[elegantlion]

I would want to pay more for professionals or make sure you have people you trust to do the job well, especially if you have areas that are hard to get furniture out of or if your heavy items are super bulky. 

We paid two younger more robust friends $50 each to move two big pieces of furniture literally next door - one a large mid-century room divider that is a family heirloom and a really super heavy hide-a-bed. We wanted the $ to be worth their time and also the risk of pulling their backs. 

At least in our area, SO called around and professional movers wanted a 2 hour minimum for at least 2 people. 

 

 

[DawnM]

8 minutes ago, elegantlion said:

I would want to pay more for professionals or make sure you have people you trust to do the job well, especially if you have areas that are hard to get furniture out of or if your heavy items are super bulky. 

We paid two younger more robust friends $50 each to move two big pieces of furniture literally next door - one a large mid-century room divider that is a family heirloom and a really super heavy hide-a-bed. We wanted the $ to be worth their time and also the risk of pulling their backs. 

At least in our area, SO called around and professional movers wanted a 2 hour minimum for at least 2 people. 

 

 

I also don't want injuries or lawsuits.

I have just posted on NextDoor and asked for recommendations.   We will see what comes up with that.  I can also start calling some moving companies.

I figure if we have things ready (beds taken apart, etc...) then maybe it won't take more than a few hours.

We bought a modular sofa a year or two ago and we are SOLD, we will never buy a one piece sofa again!   These are the bomb, so easy to move, so versatile, etc .....

[stephanier.1765]

5 minutes ago, DawnM said:

We bought a modular sofa a year or two ago and we are SOLD, we will never buy a one piece sofa again!   These are the bomb, so easy to move, so versatile, etc .....

Totally off topic - as someone shopping for a new sofa, how do they sit?

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Totally off topic - as someone shopping for a new sofa, how do they sit?

I have no idea what that question is asking.   Do you mean are they deep, narrow, high, low?

We got the Thomasville one from Costco.

[KungFuPanda]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

I also don't want injuries or lawsuits.

I have just posted on NextDoor and asked for recommendations.   We will see what comes up with that.  I can also start calling some moving companies.

I figure if we have things ready (beds taken apart, etc...) then maybe it won't take more than a few hours.

We bought a modular sofa a year or two ago and we are SOLD, we will never buy a one piece sofa again!   These are the bomb, so easy to move, so versatile, etc .....

I’m also in the market for a modular sofa so I’m 👂. I want super comfy and reconfigurable but I’m balking stop lovesac prices. 

[DawnM]

25 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’m also in the market for a modular sofa so I’m 👂. I want super comfy and reconfigurable but I’m balking stop lovesac prices. 

Yeah, they are outrageous!   I think when I configured one we were looking at it was $7,000.   We opted not to do that.   

We like the Thomasville one a lot and have had it in two different areas of our house.   We moved it when we were staging.   We took the rest of our seating out of the house.   We do have a large sectional in our media room but the buyers have asked for that to stay.

[stephanier.1765]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

I have no idea what that question is asking.   Do you mean are they deep, narrow, high, low?

We got the Thomasville one from Costco.

I was asking how comfortable they are vs other typical sofas. I was thinking they might be firmer so they can handle different configurations. I love the idea of being able to customize a sofa to our likes and needs.

[DawnM]

6 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I was asking how comfortable they are vs other typical sofas. I was thinking they might be firmer so they can handle different configurations. I love the idea of being able to customize a sofa to our likes and needs.

Ah, ok,   The Thomasville one is VERY comfortable.   My husband even falls asleep on it sometimes.   I find it very comfortable.   

[Harriet Vane]

Where are you going to live after selling this house?

[mommyoffive]

32 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Where are you going to live after selling this house?

I was curious of that too, but I didn't want to stress you out because this whole thing with the other house is turning into a nightmare.

[DawnM]

Temp housing of some sort.   

[DawnM]

Buyers have come in with what they want from us but our realtor hasn't given it to us yet.   It is a request for EVERYTHING......I am guessing it is very high.

Hopefully they will come to some middle ground.   Otherwise, I don't know what we are going to do.   

Online it says to expect to pay around 11% of the home sale on a combination of realtor fees, repairs, and extra costs.    Do you think that is accurate?   Our realtor fees are 4.5%.   I am hoping to keep everything under 7% but we will see.

Edited September 25, 2023 by DawnM

[teachermom2834]

On the sale we just had we had about 4.75% in costs. Our realtor fees were 4% and we only paid $3000 towards repairs. Obviously our house was worth a lot less than yours and the whole situation far less complicated. 
 

Best wishes. 

[Janeway]

I hope you get your money back as fast as possible and move on. I am so sorry all this has happened! Also, if the banks owns it and you still want this house, you can likely get it for cheaper later. Just get your money back as fast as you can.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Janeway

[DawnM]

3 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

On the sale we just had we had about 4.75% in costs. Our realtor fees were 4% and we only paid $3000 towards repairs. Obviously our house was worth a lot less than yours and the whole situation far less complicated. 
 

Best wishes. 

I think we will sit just under 4% in repairs.   I just got word from our realtor on costs they are requesting and we are hoping it is 4% and not higher.   

That includes the items they are asking for, the stuff we did prior to the listing, and the purchase of the land next door.

It's ok, we will still come out fine.   

[DawnM]

18 hours ago, Janeway said:

I hope you get your money back as fast as possible and move on. I am so sorry all this has happened! Also, if the banks owns it and you still want this house, you can likely get it for cheaper later. Just get your money back as fast as you can.

I am pretty sure it will take too long to wait for that, the bank hasn't even listed it or done the paperwork yet.

The land next to us is in foreclosure and it still wasn't offered to us (or the neighbors) for over 3 years.   

It's ok.   I have a bad taste in my mouth from that house now anyway.   It would have to come down considerably for me to even consider it at this point.