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 When a seller inks a deal with a buyer, the
buyer expects the utilities and major household
appliances to work.
So if the home is sold during
the heat of summer, next winter when the thermostat is
switched over to heat and nothing comes out of the vent
but cold air...
...you can imagine the
reaction.
It is the seller's
fault. Or the agent's fault. Or somebody's
fault.
So the buyer calls his agent
who calls the listing agent who tracks the seller down
to their new home.
"The heater is broken and the
buyer is demanding you replace it," says the
agent.
Of course, the heater worked
perfectly well last winter, so the seller replies that
it will be a cold day in... (well, in the house) before
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he pays for something that
isn't his problem any more.
The listing agent passes that
message back to the buyer's agent who passes it back to
the buyer and the buyer doesn't believe a word of
it.
Obviously, the heater didn't
work last year and the seller did not disclose it.
The buyer has a brother-in-law who is an attorney and
now lawyers are involved.
This actually
happens.
Anyone can sue anyone, even
when it isn't "fair." Since it costs money to
defend against lawsuits, the seller generally gives in
and replaces the heater, even when it was in perfect
working order last winter. Or the dishwasher, or
whatever else has gone wrong.
All of which can be easily
avoided through the purchase of a Homeowners Warranty or
Home Protection Plan, which is basically (see
Warranty, continued) |
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Why wouldn't the seller respond to our offer,
but accepted a lower competing offer?
Answer: Price is only one aspect of
an offer. Maybe the other offer had a larger down
payment, no contingencies, quicker closing, or something
else that the seller found more important than price...
or there was something in your offer they found
undesirable..
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