# I lost the house i was going to buy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256 "2008-09-26T00:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/1 "2008-09-26T00:28:28Z")
This morning my real estate agent informed me on voicemail and email that the house i was going to buy next Tuesday was not going to be purchased. I’m a first-time homeowner and the home was just dashed away from me. So as you can imagine, i am too depressed to actually write out what happened, so instead, i will copy/paste the emails. > [@First email from my agent](#): > > Jon, > I just left you a very detailed message on your cell phone voice mail. Please call me when you get a moment. The short sale was declined by the lender. The payoff is $210,000.00, with fees and such you would need to purchase the property for $225,000.00 > > ``` > The property has already gone to tax sale, and will be going to foreclosure soon. > > The listing agent and negotiator are shocked that the lender declined. She will be forwarding me an e-mail this evening explaining things from her end. > > I have alerted Mike & Nancy **(my financial guy and title lady, respectively)**. Nancy said to call her if you have any questions regarding how the short sale process works as well. I told her you were a bit discouraged and frustrated when we spoke last. > > I guess I need to know from you if you want to hit the streets again and find another property. Since you have already applied for the loan, you could probably settle in a week or so. I’m certainly glad you did not spend any additional monies. > > Please let me know what you want to do, so we can regroup. > > ``` > > Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, don’t think anyone saw this coming, but you just never know when you are dealing with t short sale. They are a potential nightmare. I promise home ownership is well worth it, so don’t give up. > > Denise So i called her, talked about the situation and how it blows ass. I told her that i’ll get back with her about what i’m gonna do now. When i got home from the hospital, i checked my emails again and she forwarded me this from the seller’s agent. > [@Forwarded from my agent](#): > > Here is the email from the listing agent. Please call me or èmail me once your have decided what you want to do. > > I will fax you the release in the morning > > Thanks > > Denise > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Sunriseamyxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx\ > To: DENISE xxxxxxxxx > Sent: Thu Sep 25 18:13:06 2008 > Subject: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Hi Denise - > > This email is to follow up and confirm our phone conversation from today regarding **address of SlickRoenick’s proposed house**. I received a call from the negotiator assigned to our short sale case today, and he told me the investors had declined the short sale, with no interest in countering the proposed short sale payoff amount based on our current contract. According to the negotiator, the full payoff amount is approximately $210,000 which would require a sales price of at least $225,000 to provide the lender/investors with this total amount. Both you and I know, based on the current market and the condition of the property, this is nearly impossible to do, and if we could sell for that much, we would probably end up having an appraisal issue later. Unfortunately, it seems the investors are not concerned with receiving at least some money now and are willing to allow the property to go into foreclose, which will only bring them less money at a much later date. > > The seller and I have put a lot of time and effort into trying to get the short sale approval, which we were not able to obtain. It is very disappointing and shocking to all of us. Based on previous conversations the seller had with the lender/debt collector, it seemed a short sale was something they were open to doing, which in turn, made us feel it was something we were going to be able to work out. I think the negotiator was even shocked to hear from the investors that their response was an outright denial with no counter. While he couldn’t tell me the actual amount, he did say the BPO (Broker’s Price Opinion) had come in very close to our agreed upon sales price. I also explained how Carroll County is now considered a declining market to the mortgage industry and that our sales price was the best value we would be able to get, especially with having been on the market the amount of time the property was before we received your buyer’s offer. All of this he understood and had portrayed to the investors, but unfortunately, his hands were tied and he is not the decision maker. > > Please extend my sincerest apology to your buyer and let him know I am still in shock and completely floored that these investors are willing to turn away a ready, willing and able buyer. I do not know what they are thinking. The seller is in as much shock as I am and probably more since he is now faced with foreclosure. I am just glad the buyer did not have to spend any money on inspections or an appraisal. While we believed things would work out, keeping you and him informed every step of the way and having him hold off on any cost related items (inspections, appraisal, etc.) probably was the best idea and saved him a significant amount of money. I just hope you are able to find him another property he likes just as much so he is able to stay with the Genesis program. > > I am assuming, at this point, you will be sending me a release with the deposit being returned in full to the buyer, which the seller is completely willing to sign. If anything changes, please let me know, and again, I am so very sorry this did not work out for anyone. > > Amy The part that really pisses me off is that the seller’s bank out in bloody California has been playing along with all of us the whole time. Up until today, they were fine accepting my offer. I just have feeling with the $700B federal payout, the bank is crawfishing me. The worst part, i feel at least, is that i was able to lock in on this for 5.5% interest. I do not see me being able to move into something i could consider within a reasonable amount of time and still be able to keep this rate. Now i also feel a little bit bad because i’ve annexed half of my parents basement with moving boxes. I just now realized i will have to cancel the furniture delivery too that was scheduled in 2 weeks because i won’t have a house for the guys to move things into. I don’t get excited about many things, but this, my own townhouse to call my own, had me feeling really good. Now i want to be held as i cry myself to sleep listening to the Kathy Lee Gifford lullaby CD. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/2 "2008-09-26T00:42:03Z")
Yes, that is a difficult situation. Not as difficult as the people hoping to sell, who have just been royally f\*\*\*\*\* up the @$$ by the “investors”. You are disappointed, but your credit/financial life has not been ruined. Two thoughts occur to me - first, you can continue to seek a residence. Second, if the property you were about to buy goes to “tax sale”… could you buy it _then?_ ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/3 "2008-09-26T00:43:12Z")
Ouch, sorry you had to go through that. In plain terms this sounds like it was the homeowner needing to sell to get out of their mortgage, buyer (you) and seller (him) had agreed but the bank who owns the existing mortgage killed the deal? The one thing that I learned buying a home out here in a fiercely competitive market (SF Bay Area) is that it’s kind of like dating - you’ll get turned down many times but there are plenty of great matches out there, and no matter how ideal a particular home seemed there are tons more just as good. So have a beer, grump about it for a day and then move on. I lost out on something like six homes (at the time it was a bidding war out here) before buying my place. At first it sucked but then I realized it’s going to happen and no home was as ideal as I’d thought it to be when I first saw it. If a deal falls through it just wasn’t meant to be and you wouldn’t want to get stuck with a headache anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/4 "2008-09-26T00:49:35Z")
Well, that sucks. However, my mother gave me really good advice when I first started looking at houses - DO NOT FALL IN LOVE. Do not “have” to have one. There are more. If you get emotionally invested in a particular property, you end up spending too much on it or handwaving away major stuff in the inspection or whatever. So yes, this is frustrating. But on the other hand, your house is still out there. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/5 "2008-09-26T01:37:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Two thoughts occur to me - first, you can continue to seek a residence. Second, if the property you were about to buy goes to “tax sale”… could you buy it _then?_ I am looking again, but i am still seeing the same overpriced townhouses and run down duplexes as before with the same prices too. I don’t know what a “tax sale” actually is, i emailed my agent asking and just waiting for a response. > [@Valgard](#): > > Ouch, sorry you had to go through that. In plain terms this sounds like it was the homeowner needing to sell to get out of their mortgage, buyer (you) and seller (him) had agreed but the bank who owns the existing mortgage killed the deal? Yep, for some reason they picked today to kill the deal instead of a month ago. > [@Zsofia](#): > > DO NOT FALL IN LOVE. Do not “have” to have one. I certainly didn’t fall in love with this. It wasn’t really “loveable” but it was something i could definitely work with and meld into my “home.” It’s location would put me just about 7 minutes from the hospital instead of the current 15 minute drive. And, it would have let me carpool with someone else i work with and we could park onsite at the hospital instead of parking 1/2 mile away and get shuttled back and forth while the parking garage is being constructed. > [@Zsofia](#): > > But on the other hand, your house is still out there. I don’t think it’s located in Carroll County then. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/6 "2008-09-26T02:50:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes, that is a difficult situation. > > Not as difficult as the people hoping to sell, who have just been royally f\*\*\*\*\* up the @$$ by the “investors”. You are disappointed, but your credit/financial life has not been ruined. > > Two thoughts occur to me - first, you can continue to seek a residence. Second, if the property you were about to buy goes to “tax sale”… could you buy it _then?_ Don’t tax sales generally require an auction and total amount in cash up front? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/7 "2008-09-26T02:56:54Z")
OK, disclaimer…tax sales are not my area of practice, I’m not your lawyer, you don’t know me, laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and I may be completely full of shit and talking out of my ass at the same time. However, from what little I remember, a “tax sale” is a risky proposition, at least in my state. In theory, you “buy” the property for the amount of taxes owed…but the catch is the owner has some period of time to “redeem” it…ie, pay the taxes himself, and reclaim the property from you. The mortage holder might qualify as the “owner” for this purpose, and would probably redeem the property. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/8 "2008-09-26T03:19:57Z")
As a recent first time homebuyer that just went through this exact thing (the owner said they’d accept if we offered such-and-such, and then when we did, they took someone else’s offer.) We were devastated, but within two weeks had found an amazing home, better than the first, cheaper, in a better neighborhood. It can work out. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/9 "2008-09-26T03:40:16Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, that sucks. However, my mother gave me really good advice when I first started looking at houses - DO NOT FALL IN LOVE. Do not “have” to have one. There are more. If you get emotionally invested in a particular property, you end up spending too much on it or handwaving away major stuff in the inspection or whatever. So yes, this is frustrating. But on the other hand, your house is still out there. Oy, how I wish someone would have given me this advice. We found our dream home… a For Sale By Owner, perfect price, perfect neighborhood, the Perfect House[sup]TM[/sup]. We placed a competitive bid only to have the sellers choose someone else to buy their home and I cried for thee days. A week later, their deal fell through and the owners called us to see if we were still interested. In that week, we had placed an offer on what I now call our “rebound” house. Our offer was accepted and it was a legal and binding contract. Long story short, it cost us $7500 in penalties to get out of the rebound house contract so that we could buy the Perfect House[sup]TM[/sup]. It was worth every single penny. The ass that forced us to pay the $7500 was later convicted of embezzlement (unrelated to our deal) and we still live in the Perfect House[sup]TM[/sup] to this day, over 14 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/10 "2008-09-26T08:52:27Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > However, from what little I remember, a “tax sale” is a risky proposition, at least in my state. In theory, you “buy” the property for the amount of taxes owed…but the catch is the owner has some period of time to “redeem” it…ie, pay the taxes himself, and reclaim the property from you. The mortage holder might qualify as the “owner” for this purpose, and would probably redeem the property. Any house purchase entails some risk, but really, how many of these auctioned-off homes are ever actually “redeemed”? I’ve known people who did quite well at such purchases, others not so good. It was a suggestion of something to look into, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/11 "2008-09-26T10:31:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Any house purchase entails some risk, but really, how many of these auctioned-off homes are ever actually “redeemed”? Where I live, nearly all. Here it is the tax debt that is auctioned off, and the owner has several years to scrape up the money to pay off the tax sale certificate before the certificate holder can move towards foreclosure. The person who purchased the tax sale certificate gets an absurd amount of interest when it is redeemed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/12 "2008-09-26T12:19:49Z")
But if this is a foreclosure sale might it be different? In which case “tax sale” may not be the proper term, but don’t foreclosed homes go to auction? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/13 "2008-09-26T15:39:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, that sucks. However, my mother gave me really good advice when I first started looking at houses - DO NOT FALL IN LOVE. Do not “have” to have one. There are more. If you get emotionally invested in a particular property, you end up spending too much on it or handwaving away major stuff in the inspection or whatever. So yes, this is frustrating. But on the other hand, your house is still out there. This is excellent advice. House buying is usually a real pain. It’s a HUGE amount of money, it affects where and how you live, your commute, your neighbours and even what parties you can throw. And you have no control over the transaction until they sign. When I was buying my first house, I had the mortgage in place and the seller’s agreement. The house was near my job and near a railway station. It had a good view and was in good condition. It was a reasonable price. It had taken me a month to find, and I had already paid fees to assess the property and to a solicitor to handle the legal stuff. Literally 15 minutes before I bought it, the mortgage company changed their mind and pulled their money out. :smack::mad: Fortunately my solicitor was superb. He called round a couple of local firms and got me a mortgage in 10 minutes. 🆒😃 So keep going - just be ready for disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-lost-the-house-i-was-going-to-buy/465256/14 "2008-09-26T15:51:14Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > But if this is a foreclosure sale might it be different? In which case “tax sale” may not be the proper term, but don’t foreclosed homes go to auction? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. We just bought a foreclosed house, and it was like a regular house-buying transaction. The difference was that we were dealing with a bank instead of an owner, and therefore had a committee of who knows how many rather than the one or two people a normal sale would deal with. We had an offer in on a short-sale ourselves, but it sat so stinking long that the original house we were interested in (and had lost to a higher bid) came back on the market. We withdrew our bid on the short-sale house and re-placed it on this one, and got it. There are a bunch of them going at auction around here too. This is one of the most foreclosed-upon markets in the country, and if they don’t eventually sell, they go to auction. That looked like a royal pain in the ass, so we didn’t mess with any of those.