Last Friday we received the news that we were clear to close. My realtor scheduled us to go to the title company right after the walk-thru Monday morning at 9:00. It seemed like everything was moving along like clockwork. Until the clock hit a glitch.
Originally the buyer had offered $5,000 above asking price. I thought that was odd, since there were no other offers on the table. Then I realized it was a technique he used to insure that I would accept his offer and no one else's. Once the inspection came in, he used it to drop the price down by $7,500. Since the new price was what I had anticipated the house to sell for, I accepted with the understanding that this would be the final sale price regardless of what the appraisal came in at. He accepted as well. The appraisal came in $5,000 below asking price, and the buyer agreed to bring $2,500 to closing. Well, sort of...
I think his realtor wanted to make sure she got commission for the original price her client had offered. To do this, she wrote up the new offer as his full offer with a seller credit of $7,500. My realtor told her this probably wouldn't be accepted by the lender, since it was $10,000 above the appraisal price, but his realtor insisted it had been done this way before successfully. Still, my realtor asked his realtor to verify with the lender so it wouldn't delay any paperwork. She finally agreed to, and found out my realtor was right. The lender would not accept this higher price as the selling price, credit or no credit. Another addendum was added to the contract where the buyer and I signed off on the final sales price and his realtor sent this in to the lender. Now everything was correct. Or was it?
I'm so thankful for my realtor. She received the settlement statement and went through it with a fine tooth comb. It didn't take long for her to find two mistakes: a charge from the HOA that should not have been there, and a credit for $7,500 that was never removed. She tried calling the buyer's agent but it was two hours before she finally got a hold of her. By then it was late in the afternoon and there wasn't a whole lot that could be done.
I didn't find out about this till Sunday afternoon. My realtor texted me to let me know there was a delay because, according to the buyer's realtor, "something happened with the loan." There needed to be revisions done, and she didn't know how long it would take, but we could still go ahead with the walk through on Monday morning. I was more than a little upset because I knew my realtor had told her from the start that what she was doing wouldn't work.
Monday morning I was up bright and early, despite Daylight Savings Time. I couldn't sleep is more like it. I woke up before 6:00 am. I met the buyer and his realtor at my house at 9:00 and the walk through took less than 30 minutes. They looked around and saw that I'd left everything clean, which they were very thankful for, but other than the air conditioner and the hurricane shutters, they didn't really check anything else. I turned over the keys to his realtor, showed him where the mailbox is, and we left. At this point we still didn't know when the closing would take place.
Thankfully my realtor is on top of things. She emailed the title company trying to get an update. I guess she lit a fire under them because not long after she got the new settlement statement. She forwarded it to me so we could go over it, and what did I find? Two errors. They were charging me a ridiculous amount of money for some letters from the HOA, and they were also charging me March dues that had already been paid. This time I emailed the title company asking for an explanation. Within two minutes I got an email with a corrected statement. Y'all, if we hadn't checked this, I would have been out $555 that would have gone in the title company's pocket! It reinforced what I've always been taught, read everything carefully before signing anything!
Once we'd looked everything over and agreed that it was correct, we scheduled my signing for 3:00 pm. As the seller, my paperwork is much less and quicker to sign. I got to the title company and the buyer was there, already getting his documents signed. I went in, and was out in about half an hour. The buyer was still there and probably had another 30-60 minutes left before he was done. But finally, all the papers were signed, and my house has a new owner. Hallelujah! I'm so thankful to God for getting me out of that painful and stressful situation. It's like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders.
I have to admit, it's bittersweet. I really did like that house a lot. I like the floor plan, I loved how I decorated it, I enjoyed the neighborhood and the location...it was just one person that made it impossible to live there any longer. My prayer now is twofold. I pray the neighbor receives the help he needs. He is clearly disturbed mentally and needs attention, for his sake and for the sake of those around him. My second prayer is that he doesn't cause anymore trouble for the neighbors, especially the gentleman who just bought my home. I believe he will leave the new owner alone because he's a bully but he's also a coward (as one officer told me), but that doesn't mean he won't harass someone else.
And now, I wait. I won't close on my new home until mid to late April. God is teaching me patience in this season, and I'm willing to learn.
