House Buying Vent (Long)

deburnin

BF and I are buying a house. Our original closing date was June 30th. It's almost two months later and we're really no closer to being moved in. We were hoping that things would move forward more while we were on vacation and come back to some better news. Instead the seller's attorney did squat the entire time we were gone.

A little bit of back story. The house we're buying has a shared driveway and garage (weird, yes, but the house is the right price, in the right area, and a perfect starter home). The agreement for the shared garage that's currently in place didn't really cover much, only the party wall that divides it. So BF had a contingency written into the house contract that we will only buy if a suitable garage agreement is agreed upon. We've been working on that for two months now. 

First it took forever to get the seller's attorney to write it and then forever to get our attorney to approve it. We thought everything was go then, but apparently the neighbors disliked it and wanted to use a contract from 1995 that no one had seen or to make changes to the new one. Ok, we approved the changes, we actually liked them better. Our attorney told the seller's attorney that he has to have it done ASAP and no later than the end of the month because our mortgage rate is only locked in till Sept 3rd. This was a little over a week ago. BF called this afternoon for an update and the seller's attorney hasn't touched it. He said he'll have it done tomorrow, hopefully, but it probably won't be sent out (the seller's now live in CA) until Monday or Tuesday. Their attorney seems like such a flake. And even after these changes are done it still has to be sent to the neighbor's attorney so he can try and convince them to sign it (I'm loving them already....).

I am beyond frustrated. Most of our stuff is in boxes because we thought we'd be out by the end of July at least. I was really hoping to be settled in before the semester started. Now I'm just hoping we get in before it snows. My mom said we should just start going to look at other houses so we're not completely SOL if this falls through, but I'm worried about finding a house we like better.

So a little bit of advice, never buy a house that has a shared garage. It's a nightmare.

Button5807

My dad bought a house w/a shared driveway, it was a nightmare, he ended up putting up a fence and a wall and tearing up his property to build a new driveway of his own. It was a very expensive project but worth it because he didn't have to deal w/the psycho neighbors anymore.

[Deleted User]

Nightmare definitely sounds right.  I hope it all works out for you, whether it be finally getting this one or searching for and finding a different one that works for you.

Good Luck!!!

run21

That's miserable! I used to live in DC where there are a LOT of shared drives, etc. (Did you know you can buy half a duplex? Where I grew up, you RENT half a duplex, you don't buy one. It was a learning curve.)

Hang in there! Consider giving them all a deadline and be prepared to walk if they don't meet it. (Did you put much earnest money down?)

notquiteblushing

So frustrating.  It seems everyone goes through a little drama when buying a home.  It's sort of a homeowner's hazing ritual.  Hopefully everything will be signed off on before your rate expires and there are no other issues.  Good luck!

P.S. - where in Upstate NY are you?

breezerb

URGH... as a realtor, I know what you are going through and I'm sorry you are stuck in such a sh*tty situation hun... The other solicitor is apparently a lazy sack of you know what...

Keeping my fingers crossed that he gets off his butt and helps turn this into a win-win situation

deburnin

Run- We put $1000 down in earnest money. I feel bad for the seller's because they're now paying rent and a mortgage.

NQB- Just outside of Buffalo.

Small update: the seller's attorney finally finished the changes to the agreement. We still have not seen it although our realtor got a copy. She said if he doesn't email it soon she'll track down a scanner and send us a copy. We don't think there will be any issue on our side because the changes are very minimal to the original one. The goal is to have all signatures by the end of the week. *fingers crossed*

PaigeMcC

*fingers crossed*