Re: New adventures
 

:fingerscrossed::thumbup:

:lol:

Re: New adventures
 

How right you are!

The only entrance into our attic is through a small square trap in the closet of our bedroom. You have to remove everything from the closet to even be able to get a ladder in there to get to it. Obviously he didn't do it but it said loft checked for insulation???:lol:

Re: New adventures
 

I've had two experiences.
The first was my house in Bristol. I gave my mum power of attorney to do it all as I was in Canada. That was stress free. ;)

I sold my rental property (duplex) here. On the day it went officially on the market I received an offer I would snatch at but it fell through - buyer and finance problem - and then it dragged on and I sold for 70% of what I paid. :ohmy:

Temporary collapse in rental property market thanks to lots of 'new build' apartment buildings. But removing the stress from the last few years of tenants was worth taking the hit for.

Re: New adventures
 

Electric box replaced. Closing still scheduled for June 24th.
we have movers booked and then we can say bye bye Texas.

Tomorrow our daughter, son in law and grandkids are moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has accepted a job as Director of Development at a private school in Pittsburgh. They have already bought a house and they move in on Wednesday. So tomorrow we are following them in convey to help them settle in .

Now our plan is to stay there for a week, come back for our closing and then return to explore the area and see if it's where we want to stay or not. So our adventure is slowing starting...i just have to stay well enough to enjoy it:sneaky:

Re: New adventures
 

Excuse my ignorance as to how these transactions work where you are, but would that equate to contracts have been exchanged, completion is set for June 24th?

Re: New adventures
 

That is about correct. Closing is when the money changes hands.

Re: New adventures
 

I'm not a Brit nor am I married to one so I have no clue what your use of the word contract implies. Here, the closing is when the contracts of purchase are signed, the mortgage is finalized, money exchanges hands, keys are handed over to the new owners. Initially the house is put up for sale. The prospective buyer will place a bid on the house and negotiations, if any, are made as to the final purchase price. Acceptance of the bid is signed and the house will then be inspected for irregularities and the deed will be researched for clearance for sale. If irregularities are found on the property, it goes back into negotiation as to whether owner will fix things or lower the price so that the new purchaser can fix it. This is all done before closing.

Re: New adventures
 

Thanks both. From Rete's detailed reply it would seem to be slightly different to that that I'm used to - having bought and sold in both UK and CH but so far only bought in BE.

Rete's mention of "Acceptance of the bid is signed" fits with my view of "exchange of contracts" - stage 1 of the deal - and so "closure" fits with "completion" - stage 2.

What made me ask is that in my experience any inspections of the property would be made - at the purchaser's expense - before the "acceptance of bid/exchange of contracts" and after that only a subsequent irregularity in the deeds (or something naughty such as undisclosed plans of Gov't/State intent to purchase in order to demolish and make way for a new highway) would stop stage 1 moving to stage 2.

Is there a fixed time period between "bid acceptance" and "closure" or is there an average or can that period be mutually agreed? I'm used to three months, but I asked for and got four and a half months on the last purchase - this due to tax years, it was no problem for the seller.

I'm not planning of getting into US real estate, honestly, I'm just interested ;)

Re: New adventures
 

Once the purchaser signs the contract in the US, it is binding and they will lose their deposit to the seller if they back out. This is when the inspection takes place. However, the contract will have a clause that gives an out if something ghastly is discovered during inspection. From what I've seen of UK RE transactions, everything seems to be slightly tenuous right up to the moment the "completion" takes place. The time period between contract and closing is up to the parties involved. Someone may want to get to closing asap -- perhaps two weeks -- whereas in another instance both parties may be happy for it to be scheduled for three months down the road.

Re: New adventures
 

New Adventures are you looking to move to the big city suburbs or a smaller surrounding town? I always prefer to be outside the daily commute radius for various reasons.

Re: New adventures
 

In Hungary it's "bid acceptance" against a small deposit, following which the buyer should carry out due diligence and contracts are prepared, contract signing (both parties present with a single lawyer hired by the buyer) with significant (10 / 15%) deposit, with a completion (closing) date agreed & written into the contract. The land registry search is usually carried out immediately prior to bid offer & acceptance.

Re: New adventures
 

I just went through this in AZ and would expand on what you are saying by adding -
1) there is an initial offer, which is either accepted or countered, until a final offer is accepted and signed off by both parties; typically with a 'good faith' deposit by the buyer which is 'at risk' should the buyer back out. A 'contract' exists at this point but it's conditional - subject to numerous contingencies. The 'deposit' is placed into an 'escrow account' that is opened at a 'title company' for this purpose. Typically, at least in CA and AZ, there are no lawyers / solicitors involved.
2) A timetable is established by buyer and seller during this intial phase, which sets the dates for 'contingency removals', as well as final COE - Close Of Escrow. This timetable is part of the initial 'offer negotiations'.
3) The contingencies may include an inspection contingency, a financing contingency (allows buyer to back out if they don't get a mortgage), a 'sale of existing home' contingency, a 'review of HOA documents' contingency, and possibly more. The 'inspection' contingency may include multiple components - a general inspection, a roof inspection, a sewer inspection (I had all three during a sale back in 2017). In a 'sellers market', most buyers will waive their right to the financing and sale of home contingencies because they would likely cause their offer to be rejected. Some buyers, in a really strong 'sellers market', will even waive the inspection contingencies, though this is rare. And even if the inspection contingency is waived, the seller is still required to legally disclose all known defects, and failure to do so could result in a lawsuit down the road after the sale.
4) as each contingency deadline occurs, a signature 'event' occurs where both parties acknowledge removal of that contingency. The buyer's and seller's real estate agents facilitate all the signature mechanics (these days all done by 'docusign' or similar). Frequently, the inspection contingency removal will involve some price negotiations; eg, if the roof inspection reveals an issue, the buyer may demand a reduction in price, or, require that the defect be corrected before final COE (thus introducing a new contingency and deadline). Until all contingencies are removed / signed off, the buyer can back out without losing their deposit. It has happened that trivial issues found during inspections can result in the buyer trying to back out,and sometimes the seller will challenge the validity of the action.
5) Once all contingencies are removed, buyer is committed to complete or will lose deposit. In the days leading up to COE, buyer (or lender) deposits money into the escrow account. Also in the days leading up to COE, both parties are required to sign final copies of all documents, usually in the office of the Title Company, and the signatures are notorized (I had them come to my house for this recently). On the day of COE, monies are dispersed from escrow to seller. Keys are typically transferred via the real estate agents involved.

When I sold in March, it was such a strong sellers market that we (my agent and I) made it clear to potential buyes that we would only accept 'all cash' offers, thus removing any question of financing, appraisals, etc and speeding up the process. I also requested a quick closing; the offer was finalized around March 9, and the Close of Escrow occurred March 25.

Re: New adventures
 

Bloody hell, I only said that I was interested, I wasn't planning on submitting a paper ... :lol:

Seriously though, thanks to all for the input, it's always good to have information from them in the know.

Anyways, where's that Essex girl gotten to of late? Off gadding somewhere, I'll be bound.

We need to know :nod:

Re: New adventures
 

:lol::lol:

Well I'm going through this whole selling business and im sure at the end of it I will understand...maybe , but if not I'll check and see if you took notes!

We left home today and met with our daughter and family in Houston and started driving in convey, with 3 loaded vehicles 4 adults two little grandkids and a cat. It's now Sunday evening and we are spending the night in Little Rock, Arkansas where gas is a lot cheaper than Texas prices! Our son in law has a large selection of alcohol from all over the world and we are the car that is carrying it all as they didn't want it in the movers truck. It might be a sticky mess if we have to break quickly:lol:

Back on the road in the morning.

Re: New adventures
 

Good stuff, stay safe now ;)