WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

I'd like all opinions, from professionals and buyers...

Hypothetically, there is a house that is being sold in a desirable area. That house looks great from the ground up. Lots of updates, great plot, the works.

But underneath lies a sub-par foundation that is over 100 years old. It's a couple of 2x4's nailed together that are warping under the weight and being actively eaten by termites and powder post beetles. There is extensive damage that has not been treated. Also, there is only about a foot of ground clearance, so it would require excavation of the whole area to fix it.

As a buyer, your inspector tells you all this and you walk away from this train wreck.

The realtor tells you that they've never had the house inspected and thank you so much for telling them. They counter offer you another 30k and you politely decline.

But the realtor tells your inspector that they actually did have a previous inspection. They know all about the problems but played dumb.

The homeowner doesn't live there and hasn't taken any steps to fix the problems.

As a realtor, are there some kind of disclosure rules or laws to tell potential buyers of this? Make it an 'as-is' sale or something like that?

As a buyer that knows the deal already and wasted hundreds of dollars, if there were some kind of action you could take, would you? To prevent future buyers from wasting their money, or God forbid, buying this house without realizing what they were getting into?

Or would you just keep your mouth shut and mind your own business?

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

IMO, I don't believe the Realtor is obligated to disclose this information as they work for the Seller and that would most likely ruin the sale of that house.

Now, anyone in their right mind would hire an inspector before they purchase a home and hopefully they will find the same. In another light, there might be a buyer our there willing to take a chance on something like that.

I don't think there is anything you can do personally to prevent someone from going forward, legally it might be out of your hands.

What you could do though is maybe demand your money back for the inspection because the Owners willingly knew about this and played dumb.

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

Tricia- the seller's realtor was obligated to tell you about those problems if he/she already knew about them. The sellers themselves don't have to tell you anything - they just don't sign the propery disclosure form and give over the $500 at closing. But the realtor is under a code of ethics and even though he is working for the seller is required to be fair to you, the buyer, and disclose those kind of problems with the property. You can definitely make a complaint.

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

Thanks so much for your information!

I don't want to step over any legal line by divulging information here on the internet for all to see.

However, if you are looking for houses in the Town of Smithtown and would like to give me your opinion privately, please feel free to do so.

I'd love to know what any prospective buyers would do too. Or if anyone has actually gone through this process.

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

I would just walk away. I don't think I would report anyone to be honest. I would almost bet nothing would come of it. I would confront the realtor with lying and not use her anymore, or avoid her/him. But legal action, I don't think I would bother.

The realtor we bought our home from was friends with the seller and REALLY working hard for the seller (even more so!). Realtor also lived down the block from our prospective house. She lied right to our faces about asbestos on the pipes and told me it was just "cardboard". I insisted it be removed, and they pay for it and that it was NOT cardboard. Obviously if I know what asbestos looks like and I am only 30something, and NOT been in a 300+ houses like she is in addition to her being 30 years older than myself, she clearly knew what it was and LIED to my face saying it was not asbestos. I told her I would not back down or bend or buy the house until they removed it. I would not want to foot the bill for that. They finally complied, but she worked VERY hard to get me to accept it and close with it there. Knowing she would see my face EVERYDAY on the block. Lied right to my face. And this was a pretty classy lady overall, so you can never be sure who is lying in the realty world.

My point is....I hate to say it, I think many realtors lie (not all!). I would just focus my efforts on house hunting.

Message edited 9/5/2007 11:33:03 AM.

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

I wasn't ever in the exact position but something similar in that we put an offer on a home that fell through for other reasons BEFORE a home inspection.

We found out later that the house "maybe" had majoy termite damage and they had to do a lot of work to fix it.

It's a different angle, because first we don't know for sure and second maybe it did and they fixed it all up ... we never got to the inspection part of the process.

However, what is intersesting is six months later it is still on the market. They didn't want to work with us on timing and well...had they, they would be closing right about now.

To address your situation, I think in reality as much as I would want to fight it -- I would maybe put in a complaint and call it a day. It would bother me to lose the $$ from the home inspection but I wouldn't want the hassle of proving the realtor knew it.

Message edited 9/5/2007 12:01:45 PM.

Re: WWYD? Buyers and realtors, a question.

I would report it.

Message edited 7/14/2009 9:18:27 AM.