Cup of Coffee

August 15, 2014: Full Plate

18 Comments

I'm in the middle of a stretch where I have full work days plus other long engagements every day. Today, a long drive to a blood draw that won't last five minutes.

18 thoughts on “August 15, 2014: Full Plate”

  2. Speaking of full plates, minor league posting will be somewhat erratic for the next couple of weeks, which basically means for the rest of the minor league regular season. Nothing bad is happening, there's just a lot of stuff going on. I'll have to be out of town several (non-consecutive) days, and when I'm in town I'll have to catch up on all the stuff that didn't get done because I was out of town. Thank you for your patience.

  6. So I'm selling my house in Buffalo. My renter and I sign a purchase agreement for $149,000. He comes back and asks for $6500 in closing costs. I tell him that I would lose money if I paid that much. I say that he either needs to pay 2000 of the closing costs or we need to raise the purchase price of the house to $151,000.

    So we meet today to amend the purchase agreement. First he signs to raise the price to 151. He then crosses out $6500 in closing costs and lower is it to $4500. He insists this is what we agreed upon.

    Did I just get an extra $2000 out of him?

    1. Who was paying closing costs before? Sounds like you were and it was for $4500. If so, then yes you did.

    2. yes you did.
      He changed the "or" to an "and"
      151-6.5=144.5 or 149-4.5=144.5
      151-4.5=146.5
      Good job.

      1. Yes. But signing a contract, THEN trying to negotiate another 6.5K because you don't want to pay closing costs? Ummm. the way I read it, the buyer still reduced his effective cost by $2,500 from the agreed-upon price.

        It's one thing to try to renegotiate the price and/or conditions after an inspection reveals something meaningful. It's another to just be a dick about the price. I hate that kind of stuff. Negotiate it up front.

        1. Well, there's that.
          I'm assuming the purchase agreement was silent on closing costs, and that it depends upon the market. Some times it's assumed seller pays all closing costs. Sometimes, not.

          1. Huh. I've never heard of that situation (seller pays all by default).

            Buyers typically have closing costs (unless they are paying cash) for "closing" a mortgage. Sellers also have costs. In my experience, each has been responsible for his/her own, unless market conditions allowed one side to try to negotiate for a piece. When we bought our house here in Norcal, it was a seller's market. Seller required us to take on a large chunk of the seller's expenses (a share of the realtor's cut). But that was largely an up-front condition, not an after-we'd-already-negotiated-the-price thing.

            When we sold in Illinois, we were selling a 10+-year old house in the midst of a construction boom nearby. Buyer tried to leverage at the closing some imagined problems to squeeze more money off the purchase net price. Almost scuttled the sale even though we were (literally) leaving town within minutes of the closing.

            1. I've been involved in three home purchases. Every time, seller paid all costs and there was no real argument.

              I assumed I'd be paying them going in, especially since they're getting a 0 down loan. I think he just forgot and I wasn't going to ask. I'm still saving money and dumping this house by not using a realtor or MLS

              2. btw, Beau, I didn't mean to come across as critical of you in this. Congrats on finding a buyer! That can be stressful in a thin market (been there, done that).

                1. I didn't take it that way. The other benefits of selling to my renter is that they declined an inspection (which could have more costs) and I know them and they've always been honest with me, even if they are a little dense.

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