I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! You needed a specific buyer to appreciate your special property and it sounds as if you may have it. I am sure it makes you happy to know that it will be purchased by somebody who will appreciate it.

In other news, how would you feel about adopting a 40 year old? I'm potty trained and sleep through the night. I have learned how to share my toys and can be counted on to help with small chores.

A free family apartment in Sicily? Wow, that IS cool.

ack, i forgot the listing!!
ta-da!!
http://www.vermontsrealestateexpert.com/listing/mlsid/167/propertyid/4218687/syndicated/1/cgltguid/5210BA14-6CE2-4FC1-A66A-0F675856BF43/#utm_source=craigslist&utm_medium=agent-driven&utm_campaign=craigslist&utm_content=%2Freb%2F3655633905.html

i know we need new spring pics with flowers but maybe these folks will be 'the ones'.
thanks for your well wishes---i see them loving the place and making a good offer soon.

That link doesn't work for me.

See below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fallingwater's listing

Your place is gorgeous. I hope these are your buyers!

That's a lovely home, falling waters. My fingers are crossed for you!

It's a quirky place, which means it will need special people.

I wanted to sell our place and travel for a year before
building...... that's not working out so well at my house....
dh is all mentally into building

I think it's a very unique property. Built in 1816? Wow!

.
so the potential buyers are asking for an independent appraisal, as they feel our home will appraise for less than our asking price.

i'm told they don't want to insult us with a low offer so the appraisal should eliminate that issue.
we know, believe us, we know it's a very unique property and in our area not much is selling in our price range, if anything, yet.
yet ours is the only one with waterfalls and swimming holes in our county, let alone in our town.
they desire our particular property precisely because of the water uniqueness, the in law apt, and the acreage with the fenced and irrigated garden.

also the buyers agent told me they have 50% to put down and need to finance 50%.

seems to me that if they they put down 50% and apply for the loan of the remaining 50%, then the appraisal can't help but be way more than necessary.

please help me understand how this works and what comes next?

If they have 50% to put down, they really have a lot of room to cover any issues with a low appraisal (unless it comes in 50% low of course). They just end up dipping into their down payment amount to cover the appraisal difference. So it sounds to me like they have a budgeted monthly payment in mind and what they are really trying to do is hit that and not exceed it. If they end up putting some of their down payment into the note to buy down the appraisal shortfall, then their LTV figure differs and their actual loan amount increases assuming all funds remain static.

So honestly, it sounds to me like they want the independent (not lender) appraisal to pre-negotiate the contract price. Because it really doesn't matter what their indie appraisal says in this situation...its the lenders appraisal that matters for the note.

But honestly, at 50% down, some lenders will 'stretch' their appraisal figures to make it work. I've seen this happen countless times, even post-meltdown.

No harm in letting them do this, but just be prepared that they are likely using this to "justify" their offer price....and more than likely, its going to be less than your asking price (considerably less is my guess).

Your amenities on the property are just that; amenities. Most appraisers won't give you measurable (if any) financial consideration credit for those, but you should stick by your convictions that they make the property more valuable and justify your asking price.

On a related note....any cool history on the house? That old and it must have some character/background worth sharing!

the history is a bit neat i think. it started life as a logging camp and was a family home by the early part of last century.
the folks who lived there in the forties and fifties still live in town, some were foster kids who lived in the outbuildings which are now homes on their own parcels.
the acreage used to be cleared for sheep and cows but is now overgrown and almost ready to be logged--hey i should mention that!
when we did some work in the book we found a ton of old iron horse shoes and bits and buckles, that was cool.

and as it turns out the brook is perfect for a micro hydro and the upper fields well situated for a solar panel field---so the property is for sure unique!

Have you had an appraisal done yourself? I'm guessing depending on the appraiser that the value can vary widely with your type of property. Might not be a bad idea to have one done yourself as well to compare to what they come up with as well as any future buyers.

Obviously the uniqueness will factor in to the price and it is beautiful. Just have to negotiate what it is worth. Although I do know appraisals will take into account some of those features too. I would start also adding up the value of the wood that could be logged.

Your home is lovely. Good luck with the recent interest.

Wishing you the best!
And let me know when I can come visit you in Sicily - love it there! Great biking, Taormina, prickly pear festival, Catania fresh market....I miss those Navy days...

whew, what a day it was yesterday!

we have arrived at a number everyone can live with i think, though they need the appraisal and home inspection done of course.
and i need to have a massive yard/barn/furniture sale.

i'm a bit worried about signing a contract which takes my house off the market while they get the appraisal and inspection.
of course if either of those don't measure up for any reason the sale falls through, and i lose prime showing season.

is there a way to structure this so they i can show the house and perhaps get a backup offer in case theirs doesn't happen?

i know they won't want to risk losing their money into appraisal and inspection, but i have a mazillion more to lose if they walk away and i've missed another buyer in the meantime.

i could offer to cover the costs of the appraisal and inspection if someone offers me more for the house?

lol, i'm new at this so if it's crazy talk be gentle, k?

I am not certain if you have an agent or are FSBO.

RE practices vary a lot. You need to ask your agent how your listing will appear in the MLS once it's under contract. That will determine whether it continues to be shown.

I've not heard of contracts which prohibit you from continuing to show the house. It remains your property until it is sold. Is there anything in the contract which requires you to not show it? If that's the case, I would not agree to that language.

That said, I rarely showed houses that were listed as "pending." That told me the contract only had normal contingencies such as inspections and appraisals. If it was a special place, such as yours, I might call up the listing agent to see where in the process the sale was. No inspection yet, I would show it.

If a house showed up as pending-continue to show with a number after it, that told me that the buyer needed to sell a house first. I never hesitated to show those houses as chances were good my buyer could bump out some one that needed to sell a house.

Only your agent can answer this question as there is a lot of variation in how a MLS categorizes the status of a listing. If you're FSBO, don't sign a contract that doesn't permit you to continue to market the property.

Yes, here the status changes from "active" to "contingent". Next to the words "contingent" it says either "inspection/attorney approval" "buyers have house to sell", "short sale" or "other contingency". There's another status called "pending". Sometimes, the listings switch from contingent to pending, but mostly they switch from contingent to sold.

I presume that you can still show any house with a contingency, but not one deemed pending. My thought is - if they have an out (inspection), you should be able to keep trying to sell it until that is removed.

Falling,
No matter what status it changes to, more than likely the showings will stop. Buyers that are ready, able and willing to purchase do not want to be # 2 in line. And agents do not like spending time on a deal not likely to happen.
I hope that was gentle enough. Congrats on your contract!

I'm about an hour away from you and think the house and property are awesome!

I've seen a lot of houses listed as 'active with contract' up here, which to me indicates that they are still showing the house...but as a buyer (which we are) I'd be hesitant to go look at something under contract.

Good luck with everything!

When we were looking, I passed right by Pending properties. Technically, we could have looked. But I didn't want to bump someone else. I was willing to find something that was currently open and/or wait for the property to be clear again.

I didn't want to be part of a bidding war either.

Ask your agent to put "accepting back-up offers" in the Realtor comments. That lets other agents know that the pending contract has contigencies that might fall through, and hopefully they will show it.
Good luck!

What exactly are the contingencies with respect to appraisal and inspection? Also, what's the time frame?

well hi all, i am back to breathe for a moment!
lessee,
the contingencies are thus--the house has to appraise for the selling price, or they can back out.
it's going to be close i think--but they really want it so i think it will be ok.
they can also back out if the inspector finds over 5000 worth of repairs needed--seriously doubt that will happen.

they asked us to move the dates up a week so inspection in tow days on monday, lending commitment decision on the 14th of june and close on the 21st.

i have five weeks to empty apprx 4000 sq ft of 24 years worth of living and keeping livestock here.
so i have two yard sales scheduled already for the first two weekends in june, plus next week will visit all the local used funriture dealers to get them out here, and i will have to rent a storage unit for whatever doesn't move.

we're moving into our rv and plan to travel the countryside, so we're basically walking away from it all------winter clothes are first on the list to go, lol!

i'm working hard at not being completely and totally overwhelmed!!!!!!!!!!!

"we're moving into our rv and plan to travel the countryside, so we're basically walking away from it all------"

Wow that's what my husband wants to do, but I don't know what we would do with family heirloom furniture, pictures, etc.

it's tough for sure walking away from the things which made my home 'mine'.
but--they are just things and what doesn't get rehomed to loved ones will be sold or donated.
we will have a small storage unit, i plan to build one on my rental property for myself.

the more i read, the more i see that we're joining a growing trend of people with h.o.w.---homes on wheels.
rv-dreams forum and the skp forum are filled with conversations about this very subject and are hugely informative.

So exciting! I hope it appraises out!

What an exciting change of lifestyle; I admire people who can "walk away from it all" and take on a new challenge. Good Luck!

Is the property really on 37 acres? If so, it sounds like it would be a great place to live off the grid! Something that wouldn't be lost on Doomsday preppers! ;)

"oh, and we are not buying a new home, we are going to live at camp for the summer, spend a few months in sicily (free family apt!!) and maybe travel the rest of the year in a spiffy rv.exploring the usa before we decide what to do when we grow up, lol. cool, huh?!!"

My goodness, what a great adventure to look forward to!

Hope you get your house sold soon, so you can get started on your footloose and fancy free new life!

it's perfectly situated for of grid---micro hydro site is literally 100 ft from the house. and the upper field with it's southern exposure would suit an array of solar panels quite nicely.

meanwhile i can't wait for july first and it's all done and we're picking out our new (to us) fifth wheel to live in.