30 September 2008

Real estate roller coaster....

All but one of the conditions have been removed on the purchase of the new house (we signed the mortgage papers today); there was a major issue found during inspection and we are hoping that the sellers will meet us half way to solve it.

In the meantime, we are extending the date for conditions to be removed for the buyer of our place to accommodate the time it takes for the bank to process the assessment (done today) but it's basically a done deal.

Soon I might just be able to sleep at night again.

4 comments:

Tim Bailey said...

ASBESTOS?!? Criminy! Of course, it's still found in many houses -- my old place on Vancouver Street had vermiculite insulation in the ceiling space. It can be vacuumed out and replaced, but I guess the question is: who pays? I would think the sellers would have that obligation (either to lower the price or pay for the replacement). I would also think they would have a positive obligation to reveal something that has a serious association with fatal illnesses. One might almost impute bad faith on their part...

Unknown said...

Vermiculite was blown into almost every house built or reno'd between 1930-1980 but not all vermiculite contains asbestos. We paid extra to have it tested just in case -- it's entirely likely the current owners had no idea. We've asked them to split the cost 50/50 with us, which I think is fair. We are still waiting for their final answer.

Star said...

Good thing that was found now. Before you moed in with kiddo, and before you are the owners. I think you are being more than fair offering to split the cost. If you backed out they would have to shoulder the enie cost before they put it on he market again.

Shawn DeWolfe said...

The current owners are kind of screwed. They disclosed that there was "no" absestos, when they should have said, "do not know." So, now that they know, they're screwed. If they maintain that there is no asbestos, the next owner can hit them for the removal and other expenses. So they have three options:
a) dance with us and pay some of the removal bill
b) let our deal die, disclose the asbestos, and sell to someone else much cheaper
c) let our deal die, do not disclose the asbsestos and be liable.

If the deal dies, I will be publishing the inspection and lab test results.