Buying land - question

FarmerKat · #1 05/05/15, 08:26 AM

I am not sure if this is the right area to ask this but I will try ...

We live on a property that we always considered temporary and we found one that is "it". It was listed with a realtor. We contacted the listing agent directly and made an offer (we can do the footwork & our attorney is handling the legal stuff). Offer was accepted verbally (owner lives out of state and we are told does everything by mail, no e-mail/fax). Our offer was contingent on certain inspections. It is a cash deal and we offered to close relatively quickly (3 weeks).

In order to make the 3 week deadline, we had to jump right in and do our inspections & research. This involved spending some money. We also got the attorney started on title search, etc. So he has already spent time on this that we will need to pay for. A relative of the owner who lives here has been very helpful and has been responding to things our attorney asked us to do. He is involved in the deal to a small degree and his and our attorney are working together (no concerns there).

It has been 13 days since the offer was made and we are scheduled to close early next week (our attorney is planning to overnight closing documents today or tomorrow to the seller).

However, I am getting concerned because:

1) we still have not received copy of the signed contract from the seller (realtor keeps assuring us it is on the way by mail)
2) the real estate office has not cashed our earnest deposit check (given to them 12 days ago) - the finance manager for the office is looking for the check, could not find record of it
3) realtor has not changed the MLS status of the listing to "sale pending" or "contingency"

The realtor works for a large reputable real estate company and I have not been able to find anything "shady" about the particular realtor. He has been there a long time and is one of their top performers.

Do you think these 3 concerns are worrisome (I am starting to wonder if we actually have a deal) or are they are just sloppy work on the part of the realtor?

suitcase_sally · #2 05/05/15, 08:36 AM

I don't understand how you can have a scheduled closing when you don't even have a signed acceptance contract. I would not go with a verbal acceptance.

Some of the things you are doing is the responsibility of the listing agent. That's what his commission is paying for. I think you are jumping too fast.

FarmerKat · #3 05/05/15, 08:55 AM

The check issue is resolved. It was misplaced in the office and is being deposited today.

AmericanStand · #4 05/05/15, 08:56 AM

With a quick closing things happening at the normal pace can be worrisome.
But to everyone else in the deal it seems normal so they are not truly comprehending your distress.
I've made closings happen in three days but you really have to light a fire under everybody.

FarmerKat · #5 05/05/15, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suitcase_sally

I don't understand how you can have a scheduled closing when you don't even have a signed acceptance contract. I would not go with a verbal acceptance.

Some of the things you are doing is the responsibility of the listing agent. That's what his commission is paying for. I think you are jumping too fast.

Since we are not represented by a realtor from our end, we do a lot of the work ourselves. We are told the signed contract will be here today. If we waited until today to start our inspections, there is no way we could meet the closing date we committed to.

FarmerKat · #6 05/05/15, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmericanStand

With a quick closing things happening at the normal pace can be worrisome.
But to everyone else in the deal it seems normal so they are not truly comprehending your distress.
I've made closings happen in three days but you really have to light a fire under everybody.

That had to be quite some fire ... hehe. Three days to close sounds crazy.

DryHeat · #7 05/05/15, 09:24 AM

Lol, I was about to post that maybe the seller didn't deposit the check just to save hassle if you decided to back out. Obviously that's not the case since the check got found. Maybe the seller doesn't think it smart to sign anything until the check has been deposited, but that it hasn't yet isn't his fault, it sounds like. I'd be a little jittery like you are over the money risk you've taken for preliminaries, but from the seller's viewpoint he may be sort of a "good ol' boy" who figures his word is his bond and knows he'll do the deal as long as the final payment appears at the closing.

Some 30 years back, I bought then sold years later an old country house on 3 acres in E. Tennessee and I know on selling it I took a rather informal approach myself, although with an attorney doing the key paperwork. I held the mortgage myself and actually constructed a spreadsheet that did the mortgage payment calculations (gradually decreasing interest and increasing principal fractions with each identical monthly payment) with the buyer accepting it and everything working out with no problem for either of us. When the buyer's getting a reasonable-to-good deal, the seller may always just figure his ability to maintain title to the property is his ultimate protection but not understand the prospective buyer's perspective. Hopefully, that'll turn out to be what's going on for you.

FarmerKat · #8 05/05/15, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DryHeat

Lol, I was about to post that maybe the seller didn't deposit the check just to save hassle if you decided to back out. Obviously that's not the case since the check got found. Maybe the seller doesn't think it smart to sign anything until the check has been deposited, but that it hasn't yet isn't his fault, it sounds like. I'd be a little jittery like you are over the money risk you've taken for preliminaries, but from the seller's viewpoint he may be sort of a "good ol' boy" who figures his word is his bond and knows he'll do the deal as long as the final payment appears at the closing.

Some 30 years back, I bought then sold years later an old country house on 3 acres in E. Tennessee and I know on selling it I took a rather informal approach myself, although with an attorney doing the key paperwork. I held the mortgage myself and actually constructed a spreadsheet that did the mortgage payment calculations (gradually decreasing interest and increasing principal fractions with each identical monthly payment) with the buyer accepting it and everything working out with no problem for either of us. When the buyer's getting a reasonable-to-good deal, the seller may always just figure his ability to maintain title to the property is his ultimate protection but not understand the prospective buyer's perspective. Hopefully, that'll turn out to be what's going on for you.

I hope you are right

I don't think the seller actually knows anything about the check not being deposited. It was made out to the real estate company and they misplaced it. Funny thing is that they made a copy of it (which they found before they found the original). I offered to stop the check and write a new one and they said they would refund the stop check fee (so the company itself is on the up-and-up.)

When we bought our current place, it was super informal. The attorney did the closing but there were no realtors involved. We basically just shook hands with the sellers, gave them a deposit for which they hand wrote a receipt and that was that. It is just different when you are dealing with the seller face to face than when there is an intermediary.

TnAndy · #9 05/05/15, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmericanStand

With a quick closing things happening at the normal pace can be worrisome.
But to everyone else in the deal it seems normal so they are not truly comprehending your distress.
I've made closings happen in three days but you really have to light a fire under everybody.

I bought 27ac at a McDonald's once. Took 5 minutes. (yeah, I'd done some homework ahead of time, like having the deed ready to sign)

agmantoo · #10 05/05/15, 11:54 AM

You need to determine what the phrase time is of the essence means and how to use it! You also needed an "offer to purchase and contract" form signed by the seller IMO.

Yvonne's hubby · #11 05/07/15, 01:42 PM

We just closed a sale on a farm my brothers and I listed with a realtor in Oregon. The only document I signed was the deed.... 3 days before the closing.

I was a full time real estate agent for 11 years and one of the first things I learned is that no two sales are ever the same. Some close quickly.... some never close at all. Some deals work well on a handshake and others involve very lengthy lawyer written contracts. It just all depends on who you are working with.

FarmerKat · #12 05/07/15, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

We just closed a sale on a farm my brothers and I listed with a realtor in Oregon. The only document I signed was the deed.... 3 days before the closing.

I was a full time real estate agent for 11 years and one of the first things I learned is that no two sales are ever the same. Some close quickly.... some never close at all. Some deals work well on a handshake and others involve very lengthy lawyer written contracts. It just all depends on who you are working with.

Thanks for sharing this.

I have calmed down in the last couple of days as our attorney has been talking to the seller and the listing agent to get things ready. The signed contract came back in mail today. Apparently the seller lives even further in the sticks than us because there is no overnight delivery to his location. We are scheduled to close mid next week (basically as soon as the seller can get his closing documents signed & mailed back).

HMAN · #13 05/15/15, 10:21 AM

What's the word ? any good news ?

CountryMom22 · #14 05/15/15, 01:14 PM

Hoping your closing went off without a hitch and your just too busy moving to update but please...don't leave us hanging! Sue

FarmerKat · #15 05/15/15, 04:07 PM

I am sorry I did not post an update ... so here goes ... We closed on Wednesday (exactly 3 weeks from the time we made our offer). Funny thing is that we actually never saw the signed contract. I got a call from the realtor last Thursday that he received it but that is all. The realtor never changed MLS to show "contract pending" but I checked today and the listing has been removed. His signs are still up on the property. I guess he is just not that great with details.

The closing took about 10 minutes. It was kind of anti-climatic as I already gave our attorney the payment a few days earlier to put in his trust account. That way I did not have to make a trip to town to get a cashiers check. So it was not the big moment of handing over the money. It was seriously the smoothest transaction in history and I kept waiting for something weird to happen.

We had some time this morning so we went out with some tools and cleared a trail down to the river. Here is a pic from this morning (I am sorry the pic is sideways, I tried to remove it but it is not letting me ... ugh):

Yvonne's hubby · #16 05/15/15, 04:44 PM

I am glad to hear all went well.... nice creek!

po boy · #17 05/15/15, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmerKat

I am sorry I did not post an update ... so here goes ... We closed on Wednesday (exactly 3 weeks from the time we made our offer). Funny thing is that we actually never saw the signed contract. I got a call from the realtor last Thursday that he received it but that is all. The realtor never changed MLS to show "contract pending" but I checked today and the listing has been removed. His signs are still up on the property. I guess he is just not that great with details.

The closing took about 10 minutes. It was kind of anti-climatic as I already gave our attorney the payment a few days earlier to put in his trust account. That way I did not have to make a trip to town to get a cashiers check. So it was not the big moment of handing over the money. It was seriously the smoothest transaction in history and I kept waiting for something weird to happen.

We had some time this morning so we went out with some tools and cleared a trail down to the river. Here is a pic from this morning (I am sorry the pic is sideways, I tried to remove it but it is not letting me ... ugh):

Congratulations..
Nice creek, but it flows sideways

FarmerKat · #18 05/15/15, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by po boy

Congratulations..
Nice creek, but it flows sideways

It's amazing, isn't it? I bet you cannot find a creek flowing that way anywhere else. Hehe. I could not figure out how to delete it from the post.

I cannot wait to have some fresh trout

AmericanStand · #19 05/15/15, 07:17 PM

Glad it worked out! I like your creek even if it is sideways.