Haven't been on in awhile... Hope all of your experiences are going better than ours. We've been looking since December, which to some isn't that long, however when you have to drop everything at any moment in the week to look at a house to even have a chance at it, the process gets very old.
Last week we finally found a house that we liked and in our budget so we put an offer in and it was countered. I admit we low balled it because I knew they would counter at where we wanted to be. That was June 7th. Their realtor informed us that the seller couldn't go any lower, otherwise she had to bring money to the table. Fair enough.
Today we were suppose to do our inspection. An hour before, we get a call from our realtor that they found a lien against the house for $12,000. Now, we didn't even start our title search, this was the seller's realtor that, according to our realtor, was suppose to do this before listing the house.
Thankfully, we were able to cancel our inspection and didn't lose $400 for that. However, we are not sure how this is going to play out. It sounds like her only option is to deal with the lien right away... or sell the house as a short sale... My thought is, she still has to deal with the lien and she probably won't get a better offer.
Anyone have a similar experience? How did it play out?
Re: The downs to buying a new home
So far as I know you can't close when there's a lien - that's the point of it. Someone or something (local gov't, contractor) has been cheated out of their money and the only way for them to get it back is to prevent the sellers from selling clear title. The lien stays with the house, not the old owners, so if you closed anyways without her paying off the lien, you'd now have a $12,000 debt.
To get a lien put on a house, around here you have to go to court to prove it. I guess by an illegal lien PP means the people used fake documents or their claim is baseless. Regardless, the owner will have to fight that battle in court or pay the $12k, neither of which will happen quickly if you say she's broke.
I'd start looking for new houses. GL!
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We are suppose to hear today what is going on with it, but it doesn't look good. We've already accepted that we've lost it. Just frustrated that we have to start over with very low inventory.
I feel for you and being in the short sale process. Good luck and hope you get to close soon!
Update:
The homeowner thinks it isn't a real lien and is working on finding out what it is. She said it will be taken care of either way, even if she had to settle. It still doesn't sound like she has the $12,000 but she does want the sale to go through. We are suppose to hear by Wednesday... I wish it could be a yes or no now do we can just move on if need be.