Sale fell through on a hard to sell home primarily because of items in and condition of basement

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It is the stated reason.

However, is it the right location for what used to be an engineering driven company? Have the bigwigs detached from reality at the mothership?

They are still maintaining a large presence in Chicago.
 
You don't need the MaxLife for your leaky tranny? ;)
EH,

There are lots of mixed messages if Maxlife can substitute for MERCON V. I chose not to risk that. And I am hoping not to have a tranny leak- I paid to have the leak fixed :rolleyes:
 
EH,

There are lots of mixed messages if Maxlife can substitute for MERCON V. I chose not to risk that. And I am hoping not to have a tranny leak- I paid to have the leak fixed :rolleyes:

Maxlife is the absolute least of that SUV's problems. If you have it, might as well use it. PS or ATF...just going to end up on the ground anyway.
 
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Received an offer on the home for $1,000 above list price over the weekend. My Broker is concerned with the offer as it is a FHA loan, and he is worried about the Buyers' potential finances. He stated no one goes FHA because of closing costs, unless they have low credit score, etc. He is scheduling a phone call with the Buyers' mortgage broker before responding to the offer. I will have to pay $8,000 of the Buyers' closing costs if this deal is a match.

One thing I learned, the home has had 15 showings since being listed six days ago. Almost all of the showings were weekday showsing, only three weekend showings. I am guessing the only people viewing the home are people that need to buy, casual buyers are not touring the home (personal speculation).
 
Received an offer on the home for $1,000 above list price over the weekend. My Broker is concerned with the offer as it is a FHA loan, and he is worried about the Buyers' potential finances. He stated no one goes FHA because of closing costs, unless they have low credit score, etc. He is scheduling a phone call with the Buyers' mortgage broker before responding to the offer. I will have to pay $8,000 of the Buyers' closing costs if this deal is a match.

One thing I learned, the home has had 15 showings since being listed six days ago. Almost all of the showings were weekday showsing, only three weekend showings. I am guessing the only people viewing the home are people that need to buy, casual buyers are not touring the home (personal speculation).
Oh yeah, FHA is the worst, but that might be all you get in your area. Yeah the 8k closing credit basically means he's offering 7k off the list price and he has no money beyond the deposit. The only good news is that if he doesn't use up the credit, you get it back. But you'd have to have a pretty dumb lawyer/buyer on the other side not to use it up. Only had that happen once, you can always increase your closing costs just by buying down the interest rate. And of course if there's any issues with the property like missing handrails, they make you put them in at your cost. Had a crazy one like that once where they claimed that there were no handrails going to the basement. Showed them pictures of the house with handrails in the basement. Then they wanted a receipt for the work. Told them no receipt because they were already there. Then they wanted something signed that said that the handrails were already there and that no work was done.
 
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Oh yeah, FHA is the worst, but that might be all you get in your area. Yeah the 8k closing credit basically means he's offering 7k off the list price and he has no money beyond the deposit. The only good news is that if he doesn't use up the credit, you get it back. But you'd have to have a pretty dumb lawyer/buyer on the other side not to use it up. Only had that happen once, you can always increase your closing costs just by buying down the interest rate. And of course if there's any issues with the property like missing handrails, they make you put them in at your cost. Had a crazy one like that once where they claimed that there were no handrails going to the basement. Showed them pictures of the house with handrails in the basement. Then they wanted a receipt for the work. Told them no receipt because they were already there. Then they wanted something signed that said that the handrails were already there and that no work was done.

Not allowed any chipped paint with FHA loans, and there are some other oddball things like a stove needs to be included in the sale.
 
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Not allowed any chipped paint with FHA loans, and there are some other oddball things like a stove needs to be included in the sale.
Thanks, no chipped paint, all the appliances are present and fully working.

We looked at a open house yesterday in DuPont, WA at a like price point. Place was a complete disaster. Our place has a crappy floorplan, but move in ready with a roof and furnace under five years old. Everything works. Comes down to that old saying "location, location, location". Chicago/ Illinois has a negative population growth rate. Seattle/ Tacoma/ Washington has a positive population growth rate.
 
Oh yeah, FHA is the worst, but that might be all you get in your area. Yeah the 8k closing credit basically means he's offering 7k off the list price and he has no money beyond the deposit. The only good news is that if he doesn't use up the credit, you get it back. But you'd have to have a pretty dumb lawyer/buyer on the other side not to use it up. Only had that happen once, you can always increase your closing costs just by buying down the interest rate. And of course if there's any issues with the property like missing handrails, they make you put them in at your cost. Had a crazy one like that once where they claimed that there were no handrails going to the basement. Showed them pictures of the house with handrails in the basement. Then they wanted a receipt for the work. Told them no receipt because they were already there. Then they wanted something signed that said that the handrails were already there and that no work was done.
Wolf, thanks for the input.
The two offers I received have been non-conventional loans. One VA, one FHA. I am wondering if this is the norm for the area the home is in. If one has $$$$, they likely are leaving Illinois, or they can get a like home with a better floorplan.

Only issue is one of the sidewalks near the entrance has dipped in one corner. Guess I should be prepared for a mud jack on that corner.....
 
Wolf, thanks for the input.
The two offers I received have been non-conventional loans. One VA, one FHA. I am wondering if this is the norm for the area the home is in. If one has $$$$, they likely are leaving Illinois, or they can get a like home with a better floorplan.

Only issue is one of the sidewalks near the entrance has dipped in one corner. Guess I should be prepared for a mud jack on that corner.....
If I had to choose between the two, I would say VA is worse than FHA although FHA is pretty close. I think both can cite safety issues and make you fix them on your dime. FHA can also screw you on the appraisal and once it's in their system, you can't shop around for different lenders as they'll use the same appraisal value if it's another FHA loan. Got a bidding war once on FHA and the appraiser chopped me down by over 10k, tried to appeal it but didn't get much more. Appraiser was clueless, didn't even know how much a new roof was which is what the place had. You should also check the current rules, seller concessions can't exceed something like 6% of the sale price but you should be ok there at just 8k back.
 
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Are things really that bad in Illinois? I grew up in Schaumburg but haven't been back in 35 years. Here in MA homes sales are down vs the height of the market but still going strong and prices are still close to the highest they've been.
 
Are things really that bad in Illinois? I grew up in Schaumburg but haven't been back in 35 years. Here in MA homes sales are down vs the height of the market but still going strong and prices are still close to the highest they've been.
Yes, very bad. Huge office vacancies in Schaumburg PRIOR to MAR 2020. Modern office buildings in Schaumburg were selling prior to MAR 2020 for the price of the parking lot. Hoffman Estates had huge amount of new/ modern tech research park complexes built. I believe these modern buildings are over 50 percent vacant. Many of them the landlord/ owners have given up and won't even continue landscape/ lawn maintenance. Motorola, Allstate, ATT (Ameritech), and many others have exited the majority of their operations from the NW burbs. I could go on and on. I read an article that stated every man, woman, and child owes the state of Illinois $100k each for unfunded pension liabilities. So a family of two adults and three children that are residents of Illinois owe the state 500k. At number does not include the state debt and other massive financial liabilities.

Safeway had a large presence in Illinois. Safeway chose to walk away, not even try to sell their grocery business. Bank of America is shutting down all its retail branches in Illinois, same thing- not even trying to sell the deposits.

Only one thing positive for Illinois is that it has so much vacant warehouses- the "logistics economy" found a move in ready near term home. Those buildings have seen a great growth in occupancy. Of course, the logistics business ranks pretty low on a MACRO basis for salaries/ pay.

It is a shame. Illinois has great people, a ton of farmland producing corn and soybeans, ample freshwater, pretty decent transportation infrastructure. The residents of Illinois deserved much better than they have, much better.

Just one of thousands examples of what I consider "unethical" but legal abuses in Illinois was that an employee of the Illinois Teachers Union, could work just ONE DAY as a substitute teacher in Illinois, and qualify for a State teachers Pension. What job can you work as a substitute for one day and earn a state pension? One final example is three park district employees were making 400k annually. When they were "caught", they all retired and now collect 300k each annually in a state pension. What park district employees earn a pension of 300k annually? Of course almost all of these people move to Arizona or Florida when they retire, often retiring well below 65 years of age. And the hard working people of Illinois have to pay these massive unexplainable pensions and entitlements. And Illinois is the only state in the Union with a loss of population every year for the past ten plus years, so the liability for each Illinois resident gets heavier and heavier. All while the states liabilities, debts, and deficits skyrocket.

Later today I will write my "fix" plan for Illinois. I don't want to only share the situation, without a fix plan.... it is coming.
 
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It's always a bad situation when a home buyer tries to milk the seller for big money after a home inspection or just because they feel like they can or should do so. What's worse is when a buyer tells you two days before closing that they will not close on a vacation home because a co-buyer got transferred by his employer to another state. Stuff happens. Hope this works out for you.
 
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It's always a bad situation when a home buyer tries to milk the seller for big money after a home inspection or just because they feel like they can or should do so. What's worse is when a buyer tells you two days before closing that they will not close on a vacation home because a co-buyer got transferred by his employer to another state. Stuff happens. Hope this works out for you.
NB,

Thanks- I guess the big takeaway from your reply is until closing, don't count my chickens.
 
Yes, very bad. Huge office vacancies in Schaumburg PRIOR to MAR 2020. Modern office buildings in Schaumburg were selling prior to MAR 2020 for the price of the parking lot. Hoffman Estates had huge amount of new/ modern tech research park complexes built. I believe these modern buildings are over 50 percent vacant. Many of them the landlord/ owners have given up and won't even continue landscape/ lawn maintenance. Motorola, Allstate, ATT (Ameritech), and many others have exited the majority of their operations from the NW burbs. I could go on and on. I read an article that stated every man, woman, and child owes the state of Illinois $100k each for unfunded pension liabilities. So a family of two adults and three children that are residents of Illinois owe the state 500k. At number does not include the state debt and other massive financial liabilities.

Safeway had a large presence in Illinois. Safeway chose to walk away, not even try to sell their grocery business. Bank of America is shutting down all its retail branches in Illinois, same thing- not even trying to sell the deposits.

Only one thing positive for Illinois is that it has so much vacant warehouses- the "logistics economy" found a move in ready near term home. Those buildings have seen a great growth in occupancy. Of course, the logistics business ranks pretty low on a MACRO basis for salaries/ pay.

It is a shame. Illinois has great people, a ton of farmland producing corn and soybeans. Pretty decent transportation infrastructure. The residents of Illinois deserved much better than they have, much better.

Just one of thousands examples of what I consider "ethical" but league abuses in Illinois was that an employee of the Illinois Teachers Union, could work just ONE DAY as a substitute teacher in Illinois, and qualify for a State teachers Pension. What job can you work as a substitute for one day and earn a state pension? One final example is three park district employees were making 400k annually. When they were "caught", they all retired and now collect 300k annually in a state pension. Of course almost all of these people move to Arizona or Florida when they retire, often retiring well below 65 years of age. And the hard working people of Illinois have to pay these massive unexplainable pensions and entitlements. And Illinois is the only state in the Union with a loss of population every year for the past ten plus years, so the liability for each Illinois resident gets heavier and heavier. All while the states liabilities, debts, and deficits skyrocket.
That's too bad. I was born in Arlington Heights and lived in a little 1500 sqft house in Schaumburg on North Walnut Lane in a huge development in Schaumburg. We moved to White Plains, NY and the home prices were a HUGE culture shock. My parents sold their house for $55K thinking that was a lot of money and you couldn't buy anything in NY for less than $200k. Since then I spent High school and College in NYS and dental school and the first part of my career on the "Gold Coast" of CT where my first house was a 3600 sqft ranch that went for $800K and it was a steal! My MIL lives in a town where $800K gets you a 1300sgft house with a carport with most houses being multimillion-dollar. I now live in central MA where $600K buys you a good size 3000sqft colonial but jobs and the economy are booming. New home building is booming. Renovations are booming and the most difficult thing right now is getting someone to do any work on the house - they're all booked. I live just outside Worcester which is a university city with two large hospital systems and most of my neighbors are doctors, dentists, lawyers, and PhDs in biomedical. People complain about MA taxes but my taxes in CT were worse paying almost $14K per year. You pay more here but the population is growing and as a small business owner that's huge for my business growth. Anyway, I have fond memories of Schaumburg and it's too bad what has happened. I still have an aunt/uncle in Palatine but haven't seen them in a number of years. Next time a see them I'll ask them to get me caught up.
 
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(Hasty) Illinois fix plan:

* Immediate eliminate the Illinois EPA 100 percent gone (to include emissions testing)

* All pension direct deposits must be to a Illinois financial institution

* Shut down all state and county forest preserves for ten years. Use 10 percent of the preserves budget to continue security on the sites. Put 15 percent of their in a "permanent fund/ endowment). Return the other 75 percent of the preserves budget to the taxpayers. In ten year, reopen the preserves allowing 50 percent of the interest earnings as a operational budget.

* Any state retiree healthcare needs only paid for if at a Illinois hospital

* No state retirement drawn until age 67

* Eliminate the state tollway system

* Eliminate 50 percent off all business regulations immediatley

* Close down the casinos/ slot machines (that are everywhere), reverse 420 legalization (no need to be smoking the stuff with a huge debt)

* Put in ethical rules that prohibit practices like needing a letter from someone to be selected a judge

* Significantly reduce licensing requirements for professionals

* Allow O'Hare airport to operate flights 24x7, seven days a week

* Make a statue that the state gas tax must be at least a penny less than any surrounding state.

* Provide incentives for the states nuclear infrastructure to operate all reactors and build new reactors

* Incentivize the building of new fossil fuel refineries in the state. No red tape. BTW- I believe the Keystone pipeline oil comes to Illinois via a pipeline. Illinois should have the lowest fuel pricing in the USA for many reasons, instead of the second highest in the USA.

This is just a hasty draft, I can add much more to it.
 
What @GON is experiencing is totally opposite of the Illinois market. Prices in the Seattle Tacoma metro are very high. Location is a huge factor here, even more so than most places.

Here is a “affordable” house I picked out from Redfin. I actually know this house since I had a friend from long ago live there. It’s tiny. What is not disclosed is that someone was shot and killed in front of that garage a few years back. The area is a drug haven and crime is rampant. Gunfire on a regular basis. Count the nights you don’t hear any. But for $339k this 1200sf house can be yours.



DuPont is much better and Steilacoom is a good place. @GON should count his blessings.
 
What @GON is experiencing is totally opposite of the Illinois market. Prices in the Seattle Tacoma metro are very high. Location is a huge factor here, even more so than most places.

Here is a “affordable” house I picked out from Redfin. I actually know this house since I had a friend from long ago live there. It’s tiny. What is not disclosed is that someone was shot and killed in front of that garage a few years back. The area is a drug haven and crime is rampant. Gunfire on a regular basis. Count the nights you don’t hear any. But for $339k this 1200sf house can be yours.



DuPont is much better and Steilacoom is a good place. @GON should count his blessings.
I have a feeling Mr. GON won't be buying in Washington-after his current assignment is up. If his past posts are any indication-Washington is too expensive.
 
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