My wife and I are buying our first home, and put in an offer on a short sale in April. At the time the house was being rented to the owners daughter and was well cared for. We just got notice that our bid is viable and in phase 2 so we went to see the home again. The landscaping is dead with 4 ft tall weeds. The paint on a lot of the siding is bubbling and peeling. The inside is terrible, trash everywhere and their animals had urinated all over the house. We don't feel the house is worth our original offer, that has taken BoA four months to get this far. Is it too late to change the price, in light of the lack of upkeep by the owner. Or do we walk away. Also it's a 1960's house and we our using an fha loan, will the appraiser reject the loan? Considering the peeling paint and conditions.

Hello d:

Until the deal closes, you can walk away. However the parents are the ones who are going to be losing, so maybe they'll intervene, and/or clean it up for you.

You probably won't even lose your earnest money deposit because of this either.. Did you take pictures??

excon

Ya we took lots of pictures. Should we bring it up with BoA now or wait till we do our inspection for a little more leverage?

Hello d:

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to complete the sale, then I'd bring it up TODAY. Is there a realtor in between? If so, that's where I'd bring it up. He's going to lose too if the sale doesn't close.

But, I don't think you HAVE leverage with the bank. I don't think they care much whether the sale happens or not. They're protected by the original mortgage and will certainly go after the parents for the deficiency.

If, however, one of the contingencies is YOUR inspection, then you could wait till then... But, if it were me, I'd want to get things going ONE way or the OTHER.

excon

Thank you for the advise excon