Well, we had settlement today, and with all my expertise in real
estate, I have to tell you it did not exactly go smoothly. Our wire was late, so we went to the bank and took additional money out of savings (since we were paying cash) and by the time we got to the Title Company, the wire had cleared. No real damage there, just extra funds we have to give back. The big hold-up was the Seller did not have all of their belongings out of the house.
This is important if you are selling a house. YOU DON’T OWN IT ANYMORE!!! The Seller couldn’t understand why we were being so picky about her coming back and getting more things out of the house later next week. There are three big reasons why this shouldn’t happen. First, what if the Seller decides they have taken all the “good” stuff and doesn’t really care now about removing that gold shag sofa-bed that weighs 10,000 pounds. Now I have to pay someone to remove the sofa-bed and pay to have it hauled to the dump. Secondly, as a new owner, I don’t want to be responsible for your belongings. If someone breaks into the house and steals your mothers china, it shouldn’t be my responsibility. The Seller should have found the time to wrap that china up and get it out of the house if it meant that much to them. Finally, I don’t want you making a claim against my insurance if you fall while carrying that sofa-bed or china out of what is now, my house.
So, after consulting dueling attorneys. We came up with a “hold harmless” agreement that both parties signed. Basically it says that the Seller may leave their belongings at the house for a set number of days for an agreed upon amount of money. If someone moving furniture or belongings gets hurt while removing the furniture from the property, they can not sue the current owner.
We’ll see if the Seller returns for the items left behind. In the meantime, we will begin having our construction guy come in the house and give us some quotes on the work that needs to be done.