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Ask Realty Times - May 28, 2004
by Peter G. Miller
Question: We settled on our house in April and made a verbal agreement to rent back until our new house was built. Our builders verbally said May 28th was our settlement. After giving our buyers the tentative date of May 28th, the builder pushed us back until June 10th. We then relayed the different date of June 10th to our buyers, who officially now own the home. Can they force us to leave on the 28th? Nothing is in writing except the June 10th date by our builder. Even the rent back was verbal. After many attempts to compensate our new buyers for the inconvenience they demand us out by the 28th. Could they arrest me for trespassing? Answer: The buyers own the house. You're asking them to delay their moving plans because your replacement home is not ready. No doubt they can ask their attorney about eviction, damages and other remedies if you remain. This situation is unworkable because builder agreements routinely have completion dates which are flexible. Why? Because such things as weather, material deliveries and the availability of skilled labor may delay completion. At the same time you have a verbal agreement with the new owners. What is a verbal agreement worth in real estate? Zilch. The new owners have no obligation to continue the tenancy unless local rent control rules somehow apply. You need to move -- or make an acceptable offer to stay on, perhaps an offer with a higher rental rate. Question: Recently we viewed a home and fell in love with it. Although it was not listed with our agent, we got in to see it. Our agent advised there was a bid placed by another party. We in return also placed a bid. I called my agent the next morning and gave him our top dollar. However, the house was sold to the first bidders, and we were never asked to counter bid! Is there anything we can do about this situation? We are heartbroken that we didn't even get a chance to raise our bid. Answer: All sellers have different motivations and interests. It may well be that the first bid met all the owners' criteria and that they no longer wished to continue marketing the home. Could they have gotten more money? Perhaps. But selling a home involves a certain psychological cost and some owners simply want to sell as quickly as possible and move on. You were told that there was an existing bid on the property -- a bid that could be accepted at any moment prior to withdrawal. Your bid was not made until the next morning. It's perfectly possible that the first bid was accepted even as your bid was being developed. Once a bid has been accepted, the property is under contract and the sellers have no obligation to consider other bids. Lastly, price is only one consideration in a bid. While a higher price is surely an enticement, there may have been other factors which attracted the sellers. Question: I live in a Council house that has been adapted for myself. I was diagnosed with MS 13 years ago and have managed to get back to work and have always dreamed of owning our own house. My wife thinks when changes were made to this house I signed something giving up my right to buy the house. Can I buy this house? Answer: "Council houses" are taxpayer-owned rental homes found in the United Kingdom. In some cases, they can be bought by tenants after two years of continuous ownership, often with a substantial discount -- sometimes as much as 60 percent for long-term tenants. However, there can be exceptions to the "right to buy" and one exception is a home modified for use by a disabled tenant. People with disabilities need housing and if discounted public homes are good enough for tenants generally, why not for tenants with special needs? Why should someone lose the right to purchase a public home because -- to paraphrase Thomas Malthus -- in the great lottery of life they have drawn an illness or accident? Please contact organizations in the U.K. that assist those with disabilities and especially organizations that represent individuals with MS. Also speak with civil rights groups. It may be that the local government will permit a purchase based on the length of your tenancy, need, an exception or financial common sense. After all, if you can't buy then local taxpayers will continue to subsidize your rent. Forever. Question: Currently we own two properties (mistake) and are looking to move back into our townhouse, a property that wouldn't sell a year ago. Since it wouldn't sell we bought a house and rented out our townhouse. We've been in our house for less than a year now, do not like the tenant in the townhouse, one of us has lost a job, and we are now considering selling the house and moving back into the townhouse. The house itself is nice but noisy due to its proximity to the airport and local traffic. It's the smallest yet least expensive house on the circle and was built in 2000 by the original owner. Construction and amenities are nice and it shows well. Is selling ones' house in less than a year a death-trap for losing money? Answer: I am not sure you should sell anything. First, if you sell the house and have a profit you are likely to owe a tax because have not lived there for two of the past five years. Second, there is a cost to market and sell which will eat into whatever profits you might have. Third, a better solution might beckon. For you to move back into the townhouse means the current tenant must be leaving. If this is due to the end of a lease, great -- hire a professional manager to lease the property and collect the rent. Yes, there will be a management fee but a good manager will find a solid tenant with good credit and strong payment practices. You now have a tough situation, but you need to look toward the future: Are real estate values generally rising in your community? Is the population increasing? Is the job base growing? If yes, is it not a good thing to own two properties? As an alternative, rent the townhouse -- and rent the house. Move into something small and cheap until your finances improve, then move back to the house -- or buy another one....
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