R
recgirl2
Guest
I live in Southern California and am in the process of purchasing my first home through an FHA loan. I had not yet been approved for my home loan when I made the offer on the condo I am purchasing, however I had no reason to think I would be denied. Unfortunately I was denied and I decided to cancel my offer. In the meantime, the 45-day escrow had already begun. The selling agent asked me not to back out, but to go through another lender and try to get approved. In the meantime she said to put everything on hold until I was approved. Two weeks later I was approved and the buying process moved forward. We waited to do a home inspection until after my loan was approved, per the selling agent's suggestion. The home inspection was conducted last week and turned up numerous repairs and problems that were not disclosed by the seller - namely a broken furnace, leaky and moldy water heater, plumbing problems under both bathroom sinks, dry rot in the deck outside, broken exhaust fans, broken microwave over the stove, a broken thermostat, and defective smoke detectors. The appraisal did not reveal any of these things - the appraiser only listed the items I had already pointed out - namely the water heater and the mold which is very obvious. My realtor sent the home inspection report to the selling agent and stated that, although the repairs were numerous and it appeared that the seller had failed to disclose many of the items, I was willing to go forward with the purchase if the seller replaced the broken furnace and the thermostat - a cost of about $2000. The seller refused, saying he would make other repairs and I could take the funds set aside in the contract ($600) and use that towards a new furnace. The selling agent is also claiming that we are lying about the other repairs that were lsited and claims that many of the broken items do work. In addtion, the selling agent has been verbally abusive to my agent. She "lost" my escrow check, then claimed my agent had never sent it to her, when in fact it laid at the bottom of the file my agent sent to her for 1 1/2 months. I had to place a stop payment on the check and write a new one. She also failed to disclose right away that she is related to the seller (it's her son), and she was supposed to conduct a termite report over a month ago and still hasn't.
I want to buy the property and all I am asking the seller to do is replace the furnace and thermostat. My agent says that I can't force the seller to meet my request because we conducted the home inspection so late in the escrow period. What I need to know is, do I have any leverage to make the seller repair the furnace? Am I stuck buying the house "as is" (there is no "as is" clause in the contract)? Do I have any recourse through FHA, since the appraiser didn't follow through on checking the property according to their guidelines? My next step is go through an arbitrator for a resolution. If anyone out there has any info or advice I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
I want to buy the property and all I am asking the seller to do is replace the furnace and thermostat. My agent says that I can't force the seller to meet my request because we conducted the home inspection so late in the escrow period. What I need to know is, do I have any leverage to make the seller repair the furnace? Am I stuck buying the house "as is" (there is no "as is" clause in the contract)? Do I have any recourse through FHA, since the appraiser didn't follow through on checking the property according to their guidelines? My next step is go through an arbitrator for a resolution. If anyone out there has any info or advice I would really appreciate it. Thanks!