Selling a house, need advice

[bricabrac]

Happy it worked out and you can now close this chapter!! Congrats!

[cookderosa]

After 10 months on the market I finally got an offer on my NJ house. The offer was low and we negotiated up to a semi mid point. Now we are running into all kinds of roadblocks. This is the 1st house we have ever sold, we bought it new 31 years ago. In ~1985 we added a wood stove, in ~1988 we added sky lights and finished the upstairs ( a cape) ~ 2009 we had the roof replaced and in 2004 we had fire damage repaired. We applied for and got permits for all but the roof. Now our buyer wants copies of those permits, we do not have them, we told him he could request them from the town but his lawyer only requested the town look back 10 years so of course there weren't any permits. We do still have some of the interim approval stickers hanging on the studs in the attic upstairs and the electric approval sticker is on the fuse box. Are we being difficult by saying if you want more proof you pay to ask the town if they even have records back over 25 years.

Also the NJ recommended Radon level is 4 we tested at 5.1 so he wants radon remediation. As scientist we feel the margin of error covers this. The test was done in a closed off house in the back corner of an unfinished basement. We did get 2 quotes and they are around $1700 we offered $700 toward him getting it done later. We lived there and raised 3 children there my radon remediation was leave a basement window open a little, it is a lot cheaper than paying for remediation and then the electric cost of running that system plus maintenance on the system. If we/he ever finishes the basement it will probably be easier to install remediation then.

We did also have a list of several items they wanted done after their inspection. We agreed to most and some we didn't really have to do. The closing is not for a couple of weeks and we have not finished everything yet but he was planning on going to see the house tomorrow to check if things were done yet.

I respect the opinions of the people here and hope you can tell me if this is just normal closing stuff, are we being unreasonable or is the guy being difficult.

*deleting, I'm too late to the party lol

[cookderosa]

Thanks to all for the advice.

When it came to his punch list we said yes to all except putting GFI's in the kitchen this was not required by law. We eventually did it anyway. When he asked for more time(beyond what was stipulated in the contract) to get his mortgage approval we agreed immediately.

Our original asking price was 234,900 we came down in steps and had just lowered it from 219 to 209 the day before his offer of 192. We negotiated up to 202. For a 4 bd, 1 bath with unfinished basement in NJ some would consider this a steal.

I did call the town today and they said they "might" have permits from 25 years ago. We do have pictures of the approvals on skylights and framing. Part of the problem is we now live 6 hours away so we can't just go to the town clerk and ask for these things. Our lawyer says we do not have to provide the permits. It is his lawyer who only asked for 10 years so why is he mad at us if we were asked we could have told him the years things were done.

I have gotten more quotes for the radon still around $1700 so we will either offer him that much or get it done. Again the distance thing is a problem.

I am just frustrated, we have tried to be reasonable. We also just put $20K into repairs, replacements, full house painting and all new flooring just before we put it on the market. We really can not afford to put much more into it and we also can't afford to carry it much longer.

Congratulations! Happy closing!

[LaterBloomer]

Excellent news! It's especially nice that your old home will go to folks who will love it like you did. Real estate has gotten so complicated over the years that I understand the need for agents and attorneys, but it sure does make life hard for the buyer and the seller. Wait a second... Maybe it's so hard 'cause agents and attorneys have made it that way...

Regardless, I'm so happy for you.