Selling a House the "Re-lo" Way.. Or, The Buyers From "You-Know-Where!"

First, let me say we feel quite fortunate to have received and accepted an offer on our home within two weeks of listing it...

But, the day before leaving, we received the buyers' response to the inspection. Mind you, they are already literally stealing the house with respect to price. Then, the requested a list of things that included cleaning the gutters and other maintenance items (we clean the gutters every spring and fall so they had been cleaned about 3 months prior and the fall leaf season is about to begin - a gratuitous request if ever there was one - the inspector mentioned nothing in the report about the gutters). All of the items on their list were either extremely minor repairs or maintenance items. Technically we could refuse them all and if the buyers backed out, we would get their earnest money because the purchase contract indicates specifically, in capital letters, that the buyers may only back out of the purchase if inspection results identify a MAJOR DEFECT that the sellers refuse to rectify.

So, that was our stance and by the end of the day, the realtor and the relocation consultants took the negotiations into their own hands. Of course, the fact we were leaving on a boat and going to be out of contact also helped with that! What we later heard was that they ended up relenting on a few items and giving them $500 for the rest. Wimps! These buyers clearly know the relocation drill well and have pushed and pushed, knowing that the relo company desperately does not want the house in their inventory. At least the concessions will not come out of our proceeds because they conceded to stuff that really wasn't required.

Just an example of the buyers' attitude and persistence: At their expense, they brought in three additional contractors to look at our tile shower floor. The inspector had indicated a "crack" which in reality was a place in the grout that needed some caulking or re-grout - I could see this and, as it turned out, all three contractors they brought in told them the same thing. They just wouldn't believe one or two contractors! And, the contractors were definitely being honest as they were losing work by indicating it was a simple problem they didn't need to "fix!"

After the cat was found (see The Cat's Story post), you can well imagine that our realtor was apoplectic about the sale! And, she was stuck with getting bids, ordering new cabinets and coordinating the repair. When we could finally talk, after arriving in Hamburg, I was able to tell her the company that had done the kitchen cabinets in the first place. She arranged a binding estimate and thankfully, the style and wood of the cabinets could still be ordered.

So, the buyers went ahead with the closing yesterday even though the cabinet won't be delivered and installed for about three weeks. The realtor made a comment about not even being sure who technically owned the house when this happened - us or the re-lo company (they "buy" the house even when its been sold prior to the closing so that the closing is between re-lo company and the buyer).

No one has said a word to us yet about the expense of the repair - not to approve it or how it will be paid. They have set in motion the wiring of house proceeds, loss-protection proceeds and the early sale bonus money. So, perhaps the re-lo company is just going to pay the cost - we're not asking! We'll just wait and see!

In the meantime, despite going ahead with the purchase in spite of the damage, the buyers then got the realtor totally paranoid about scrapping the deal over two 8" square mirrors that were hanging in the 1/2 bathroom. I packed the mirrors (they were bought at Marshalls for about $9 a piece 4 years ago and were not the "official" bathroom sink mirror) but that left the bathroom with no mirror - apparently they are within their rights to expect a mirror in every bathroom so the realtor is frantically trying to reach us about this issue... she ended up going out to buy mirrors.

By that time, I would have told the buyers to fly a kite. Give them $20 a closing and tell them to go buy a mirror they like! Ah well.... there's clearly mostly only good in the end of doing things "the re-lo way!"

Our old neighbors report that as of today, no one has yet moved into the house... perhaps they are phantom buyers from you-know-where?!