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Post by OntarioScrapper on May 29, 2022 15:59:48 GMT
Aside from the realtor issue, if the house is in an area where it is warm enough to be mowed, I am not sure why it isn’t being mowed regularly, even if the house is in contract and the contract doesn’t mention mowing. The buyer doesn’t own the house yet. The sellers are responsible for the upkeep of the house. Mowing is part of it. When my Mom died, we made arrangements to have it mowed weekly as none of us lived in the same town. The house is being Sold As Is. We have no obligation to mow the lawn. Or to do anything else the Agent had wanted us to do. We did some of the things because she said it would sale higher. We didn't have much money to spare with now having to also pay rent. Told her we were done and to just sale AS IS like we asked. Probably shouldn't have done the other things either. Her trying to tell us the sell won't go as smoothly over an unmowed lawn is reaching. We had to go to the lawyer to ask about an obligation for the lawn. Since then I have found out from friends and family who had sold As Is properties and they said they sold with no problem with a way worse house than us. We paid for the cleanup of the house and the yard. DH had several projects involving the house on the go and couldn't finish them because of the fast move and we just did not have the money otherwise we would've have and rented instead. Our Agent knew this. It would've made a nice home to retire in a quiet rural community.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,891
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on May 29, 2022 16:16:47 GMT
I'll admit, we were a little annoyed when we showed up to move into our house that the lawn was kind of crazy. We didn't have a lawn mower - we were literally just moving in; we didn't have a lawn service for the same reason.
Our realtor was pissed and called the seller's realtor and she arranged to have someone come mow - I think she paid for it out of her own pocket.
I'm glad it'll all be over for you soon.
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Kerri W
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,790
Location: Kentucky
Jun 25, 2014 20:31:44 GMT
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Post by Kerri W on May 29, 2022 16:39:05 GMT
I work for a real estate team. In our market “as-is” means you will not be doing repairs if they choose to have a home inspection. Our contract precisely states the home will be kept in “marketable” condition, meaning the condition it was put on the market in. Grass should be mowed, cabinets shouldn’t be taken off the walls, etc. If a tornado came through and tore off some siding, seller would be expected to fix siding back to condition it was in when listed…not stop doing upkeep. It would be interesting to hear about this transaction from the agent’s perspective. It seems there’s some kind of disconnect somewhere.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on May 29, 2022 19:49:28 GMT
Aside from the realtor issue, if the house is in an area where it is warm enough to be mowed, I am not sure why it isn’t being mowed regularly, even if the house is in contract and the contract doesn’t mention mowing. The buyer doesn’t own the house yet. The sellers are responsible for the upkeep of the house. Mowing is part of it. When my Mom died, we made arrangements to have it mowed weekly as none of us lived in the same town. The house is being Sold As Is. We have no obligation to mow the lawn. Or to do anything else the Agent had wanted us to do. We did some of the things because she said it would sale higher. We didn't have much money to spare with now having to also pay rent. Told her we were done and to just sale AS IS like we asked. Probably shouldn't have done the other things either. Her trying to tell us the sell won't go as smoothly over an unmowed lawn is reaching. We had to go to the lawyer to ask about an obligation for the lawn. Since then I have found out from friends and family who had sold As Is properties and they said they sold with no problem with a way worse house than us. We paid for the cleanup of the house and the yard. DH had several projects involving the house on the go and couldn't finish them because of the fast move and we just did not have the money otherwise we would've have and rented instead. Our Agent knew this. It would've made a nice home to retire in a quiet rural community. As the home owner, until the house is sold, meaning the closing is done, then you are responsible for mowing. Mowing the lawn has nothing to do with the home being sold “as is”. Mow The Lawn-- Want to have a rough closing? Let your yard turn into a jungle. The home needs to be in the same (or better) condition as at the time of offer. And this includes the lawn. Most contracts say that the house will be in "substantially the same condition" at the time of mutual acceptance and close of escrow.
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Post by OntarioScrapper on May 31, 2022 18:52:50 GMT
The house is being Sold As Is. We have no obligation to mow the lawn. Or to do anything else the Agent had wanted us to do. We did some of the things because she said it would sale higher. We didn't have much money to spare with now having to also pay rent. Told her we were done and to just sale AS IS like we asked. Probably shouldn't have done the other things either. Her trying to tell us the sell won't go as smoothly over an unmowed lawn is reaching. We had to go to the lawyer to ask about an obligation for the lawn. Since then I have found out from friends and family who had sold As Is properties and they said they sold with no problem with a way worse house than us. We paid for the cleanup of the house and the yard. DH had several projects involving the house on the go and couldn't finish them because of the fast move and we just did not have the money otherwise we would've have and rented instead. Our Agent knew this. It would've made a nice home to retire in a quiet rural community. As the home owner, until the house is sold, meaning the closing is done, then you are responsible for mowing. Mowing the lawn has nothing to do with the home being sold “as is”. Mow The Lawn-- Want to have a rough closing? Let your yard turn into a jungle. The home needs to be in the same (or better) condition as at the time of offer. And this includes the lawn. Most contracts say that the house will be in "substantially the same condition" at the time of mutual acceptance and close of escrow. No it doesn't in Ontario, Canada. Our lawyer also confirmed this. And it's not a jungle. Our contract doesn't say anything about "same condition".
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MorningPerson
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,543
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Jul 4, 2014 21:35:44 GMT
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Post by MorningPerson on May 31, 2022 19:16:03 GMT
I haven’t read everything so maybe I’m missing something, but I think you should be sure to keep the lawn mowed. It seems you’re digging your heels in on a pretty inexpensive item. If nothing else, it will go a long way toward how your buyers feel about their new home. Do unto others and all that.
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Post by OntarioScrapper on May 31, 2022 19:16:14 GMT
Both DH and I work tomorrow. Lawyer said she'd call DH immediately if something is going wrong. Fun times. Update for May 29 and May 30 Agent called our lawyer. Agent texted DH that the lawyer confirmed we didn't have to mow the lawn. But the Agent texted to DH that she could hire someone to do and we'd pay her back. DH said no. We have pictures from last Friday (we have a neighbour keeping an eye on the house since it's empty). It's NOT a jungle. In Ontario Canada, we do not have to mow the lawn before closing unless it's in the contract or if you want to do it. Then she said we should replace the fire alarms. Friday she texted that she was putting a new battery in for us. That's all it needed. Not sure why she thought we should buy all new fire alarms since when you get a new home, the homeowner does that anyway along with new locks on the outside doors. Found out today (30th)she HADN'T put a new battery in but was doing it now. After she said to us on Monday that we needed working fire alarms because of insurance. DH had thanked her for changing out the new battery and she hadn't even done it on Friday. And she isn't even suppose to be talking to us anymore. Company #1 is closing the deal (they told us this when DH called to complain about her). sigh Today May 30th. We took the drive to our lawyer's office. She said our Agent was... something. Agent tried to argue with her over the lawn. Lawyer told her it's not in the contract and just kept saying that until Agent gave up. And then as we were signing the papers she pointed out how the commission is going to the first company. She said the Agent tried to tell her to GIVE all the money TO her (Agent) and she'd make sure Company #1 gets their cut. And here we thought nothing more weird would happen. The paper work shows where the money from the sale is going to. Commission of sale Directly to the company #1. From what I have read since she has left the company, they can actually give her less commission. And it is illegal for the Agent to directly get the money. SHE WAS ASKING OUR LAWYER TO DO SOMETHING ILLEGAL. Our lawyer also pointed out that if the money went directly to the Agent and the Agent decides to keep it all, we would have to pay the same amount to the company as they sort out in suing her. Like seriously?!?!? Am I ever so glad we went with the law firm that helped with the buying of the house 12 years ago. Agent was trying to recomand one to us. I'm questioning where she got her education from to be a Realtor Agent.
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Post by OntarioScrapper on May 31, 2022 19:21:13 GMT
I haven’t read everything so maybe I’m missing something, but I think you should be sure to keep the lawn mowed. It seems you’re digging your heels in on a pretty inexpensive item. If nothing else, it will go a long way toward how your buyers feel about their new home. Do unto others and all that. Not really. I have talked to several family members and friends who sold houses without mowing. We have pictures from a neighbour. It's not a jungle. The neighbour keeping an eye on our house said she sold her house with the grass way higher than ours. If a house flipper cares that much about how the grass looks right now, she'll get it mowed. Agent was also on Monday trying to tell us to buy all new fire alarms when one just needed a battery replacement. So, no, we are not going to start getting a list of things sent to us to do before closing with a house being SOLD AS IS.
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Post by littlemama on May 31, 2022 19:24:08 GMT
I would stop responding to agent and make sure that agency #1 is aware thay she is accessing the property and it needs to stop immediately.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on Jun 1, 2022 2:20:09 GMT
If you were living the house, would you have mowed the lawn by now?
If yes, then mow the lawn or pay a neighbor to mow it. It doesn’t need to look like a jungle to warrant a mowing.
I don’t know why you have dug in your heels about a no-brainer situation.
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Post by MichyM on Jun 1, 2022 3:33:42 GMT
If you were living the house, would you have mowed the lawn by now? If yes, then mow the lawn or pay a neighbor to mow it. It doesn’t need to look like a jungle to warrant a mowing. I don’t know why you have dug in your heels about a no-brainer situation. I agree. Not everything needs to be a big deal. Just do what’s right 🤷🏼♀️
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Post by OntarioScrapper on Jun 2, 2022 2:02:52 GMT
Update for June 1st. The house is SOLD! YEAH! We can now pay off the VISA credit card which we needed to use when we had those extra bills. And holy has the interest rates gone up in Canada. I was watching the news and it went up again today. 3rd time in a short amount of time. So good to get rid of the mortgage and the line of credit we had with the house. Very happy with the lawyer's office. When the market cools down, we told the lawyer we'd like to use them again. Nice to actually have a professional involved.
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Post by Lexica on Jun 2, 2022 2:56:53 GMT
I am so happy for you that it is all over with now. That realtor is a real piece of work. Asking for you to give her the money instead of it going to the realty company as required is really pushing it. I would let them know about that. I would assume she would still get her sales commission from the first company since she did sell the house. I don't know the laws in Canada though, but surely SHE should! If she wasn't going to get the commission, she could have waited for the house to close before switching companies. Twice. I have a feeling she will not be in the realty field for too much longer. You don't pressure your customers and you don't try to break the law. If she wanted the grass mowed that badly, she should have paid for it herself. She knew you were moving out of the area to a new job. How can she expect you to travel back to mow the grass? Hopefully she learns more before the next unsuspecting customer signs with her. I would go ahead and leave your review of her services to serve as a warning to future people.
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Post by melanell on Jun 3, 2022 11:06:26 GMT
Congrats on the sale!!
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Post by OntarioScrapper on Jun 3, 2022 20:45:38 GMT
I am so happy for you that it is all over with now. That realtor is a real piece of work. Asking for you to give her the money instead of it going to the realty company as required is really pushing it. I would let them know about that. I would assume she would still get her sales commission from the first company since she did sell the house. I don't know the laws in Canada though, but surely SHE should! If she wasn't going to get the commission, she could have waited for the house to close before switching companies. Twice. I have a feeling she will not be in the realty field for too much longer. You don't pressure your customers and you don't try to break the law. If she wanted the grass mowed that badly, she should have paid for it herself. She knew you were moving out of the area to a new job. How can she expect you to travel back to mow the grass? Hopefully she learns more before the next unsuspecting customer signs with her. I would go ahead and leave your review of her services to serve as a warning to future people. In my province, the sale stays with the company she was with at the time when we signed. The company CAN decide to give her less money since she left the company before our transaction if final. I was also reading that Agents who are going to another company should finish up any transactions first before leaving. She choose not to do that. Considering she was only with Company # 2 for a few days before going to Company #3, I think #3 will find out soon enough that's she not a right fit. My husband is writing the review. It'll have no swear words.
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Post by OntarioScrapper on Jun 3, 2022 20:46:48 GMT
Thank you! We were there for 12 years so we are a bit sad we had to sale instead of being able to finish the house projects and rent. Could've retired in the house later. However we are all liking our new city.
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Post by Zee on Jun 3, 2022 21:02:56 GMT
Glad it's all over. Selling is so stressful.
But I would have paid someone to keep the lawn up (I did that when I was selling bc that lawn definitely had the potential to become a jungle quickly). In case you wanted yet another opinion about the lawn 🤭🤣
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Post by anniefb on Jun 4, 2022 0:56:03 GMT
Great update! So good to hear the house sold.
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Post by mom on Jun 4, 2022 1:05:24 GMT
Congratulations!!
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