hey guys!
i wrote our your answers so far and brought them to my SO- we were both happy that the decision seemed unanimous to wait.
a few more details:
(sorry if I am sketch on them. this is my first time buying a place and there are so many details it's hard to keep them straight)
unleashhell: good point about taking ownership by a certain date- there are probably more forces at work than we're aware of.
you know, if the seller's agent gets the commission either way, then why is the seller's agent pushing us so very hard? wouldn't they get the same commission from the other deal? my sunny smile and winning personality could be a factor in the agent wanting us to get it, haha, but i am still suspicious.
lakemom: yeah, we decided to take the weekend- to cool off and relax, to make the sellers wiggle a little if there is no actual signing today. we also decided we'll have to wait a bit till looking at the next one, house hunting is very disruptive to our jobs and we've gotten like nothing outside of condo stuff done.
we go back and forth constantly on house type- condo seems like the mostly likely (most of of the housing inventory is condos, our bank wont finance co-ops and detached houses are rare).
also they want like the entire down payment as an earnest payment, which seems sketch to me.
also, we just don't have the entire down payment on hand, liquid cash ready to sign over right now.
plus, the entire down payment as earnest money??? that seems odd?? again, no experience, no way to tell...
frugaliknowit:
THANK YOU! I KNEW IT WAS SO WEIRD that she gave us the offer down to the dollar. we appreciated the data but got really really suspicious. it's like with a cheating dating partner- if they cheat on their current partners they're likely to turn and cheat on you too. a lot of dating analogies in real estate so far.
i believe we are in the contingency period. buyer #1 made an offer, they wanted work done to the condo, seller didn't want to, they were going back and forth, and the condo eventually accepted their offer. in the meantime we appeared, put in an offer, got the counter to match buyer #1, matched it, then started our inspections and lawyer stuff. while we've been doing the inspection/lawyer stuff, the agent has been bugging us that the other buyer is so close, they might have it soon, great news, their agent is away for a few days so you have extra time, uh oh, they're back, signing tomorrow, freak out!!
so far our offer is contingent on our financing, which is a little dodgy since we had to match their counteroffer. my SO is working out the details and says theres a shot we can get it, and a shot the bank will look at everything and turn us down.
good to know about the litigation. i can't figure out of they're spacey or what, they said there was, then there wasn't, and they won't provide details. hard to know what's legit not available and what the dog ate.
more replies on the way...