Buying the lot
Posted on | August 25, 2008 |
Few things strike fear into the hearts of people quite like buying real estate. I’d say that it’s probably worse than buying a car, simply because of the huge cost involved, the people who need to be consulted and the running around you have to do.
Once we made our decision to buy the lot, we called our agent, Wayne Cochrane and put together an offer. The asking price was $50,000. We put an offer in that came to about $42k, knowing full-well that they would counter with something much closer to the asking price. What we didn’t expect is what their realtor came back with:
- Full asking price, not a penny less
- AND, betterment charges to be paid off over the next 7 years totalling more than $8,000.
Wayne was flabbergasted that this information had not been disclosed in the listing. As we spoke with other people in the neighbourhood, it became apparent that the people we were buying from were, how shall we say, ‘interesting’? As it turned out, the owners of the land had originally bought this lot and the one next to it. They built on the first lot, planned to then build on the second lot and instead decided to move to BC. The lot had been listed on and off for the last few years, and finally, we were the suckers willing to fall into their trap. We also learned that when they had built their house they had poured the foundation and as devout Buddhists, they brought the Rinpoche out to bless the house. He remarked that the foundation was pointing the wrong way for Feng Shui or something so they tore the foundation down and rotated it a few degrees.
I’m pretty into Buddhism, but that just sounds nuts to me.
In the end, when it became apparent that we weren’t going to get them to move at all, we settled on offering darn near asking price and agreed to pay the betterment fees for the road paving. Although it pretty much sucks the life out of me to not get a decent deal and at least feel somewhat victorious in the negotiations, I can take heart in that we’ll be getting one of the very last lots in a beautiful area, with great neighbours and a super warm community.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the difficulty in dealing with the seller’s realtor. They missed every deadline we set out for them, failed to get papers to their lawyer in time to meet deadlines. They knew full well that they held all of the power in this relationship, so they felt no rush to do things in a timely manner. Despite our realtor pressing them to deliver documents on time, Bryant Realty barely lifted a finger. It was almost as if they simply didn’t care if they sold the lot. After all, most of the houses they have listed cost half a million dollars, what’s the point of trying to make someone only looking to spend $50,000 happy?
In the end though, we bought the lot anyway, maintained our composure throughout the ordeal and chalked it up as the first of many experiences in this process that will likely be more difficult than they should be. This is going to be a serious learning experience. It’s one I’m looking forward to–the challenge will be half the fun.
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2 Responses to “Buying the lot”
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August 25th, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Ugh… Thank you for reminding me why I don’t want responsibilities like that anytime soon. What a painful process!
August 26th, 2008 @ 8:27 am
The newf was seconds from throwing up and I was quite close to hyperventilating in the realtors office at 11pm when we were trying to get our offer in. NOT FUN TIMES.
Then, of course, once it’s accepted, you’re flung into 132 other things that you have to do in the next seven days to close the deal.
Needless to say, we’ve been in the house for two months now and our champagne bottle has still not been opened haha