Hudson Valley Happenings Blog : To The Home Buyer- What Did You Forget When You Made Your Offer?

To The Home Buyer- What Did You Forget When You Made Your Offer?

After an extensive search you have found the house you want and bid on it.  You negotiate and joyfully have an accepted offer.  Do you really remember the house you bid on?  Hopefully you get the chance to look at it again before the walk through.  When you come for the home inspection or later to measure windows for treatments take some time to look at the house and listing again.  Was everything you thought to be included in the sale mentioned in your offer or contract?  If not try to work things out before you get to the closing table.

Many buyers arrive for a walk through just prior to closing to find things that they thought were included missing or changed from what they originally saw.  Where is the washer and dryer they had counted on?  Why didn't the seller leave the custom window treatments that will never fit another window behind?  Why is the refrigerator missing? Wasn't there a Japanese Maple in the front yard?

You need to go back to your listing and contract to make sure that the items you believed to be included were or in some cases, that the item was specifically excluded by the sellers from the beginning of the transaction, such as removal of the Japanese Maple from the above example.  If the items were supposed to be included you will need to speak with your attorney or closing agent to negotiate an acceptable solution which usually involves financial compensation.  If the items were not in the offer and contract you will most likely not be able to recover anything.

So if there is something in the house you are buying that you absolutely need to have make sure it is in your offer. If there are items you would like to have that are not normally included (these are those things that are not attached to the property making them part of the real estate) you have to ask.

Working with a buyers agent will help you to get what you want.  They can make sure that you include those items you need in your original offer and will point out the excluded items to you.  They will be there for the walk through to help document any incomplete repairs the seller was supposed to make or to verify that items were changed or missing.
  
If you are looking for homes in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York, I would love to be your buyer's agent.  If you are looking elsewhere I can provide you with a referral to an agent in your area who will do the same thing for you there.



I'm Paddy Pizappi - Work with Me and You'll be Happy!

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Paddy Pizappi, Associate Broker for Buyer Representation
 RJ Smith Realty - A Real Estate Solutions Company
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from Pine Bush, NY at the corner of Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan Counties
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2 comments • Paddy Pizappi PineBush & Hudson Valley NY Real Estate • May 16 2008 05:40AM

Comments

It pays to specify, in the offer, appliances or fixtures that are important to you - even if they were included in the MLS.

Posted by Brian Schulman - Your Lancaster County, PA Real Estate Professional (Coldwell Banker Select Professionals, Lancaster PA) over 2 years ago

Absolutely Brian.  The listing is not a legal document and won't get you far if there is an issue later on.  Thanks for the comment.

Posted by Paddy Pizappi PineBush & Hudson Valley NY Real Estate (RJ Smith Realty Real Estate Solutions) over 2 years ago

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