{Del Boca Vista} Update - Condo #2

(You can read my previous post on this topic here.)



When I left off, we had walked away from Condo #1 after the owner refused to acknowledge that there were serious issues with the electrical panel and would not agree to make any repairs.

Condo #2 is similar to Condo #1 with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, located on an intracoastal waterway and a short walk to the beach.  It's actually on the same street as Condo #1, separated by a handful of other smaller condo buildings.  Initially, it was priced $10,000 less than Condo #1.  A few days after we had looked at both condos and decided to make an offer on #1, the list price on #2 was reduced by $10,000 even though it had only been on the market for about a week.  We went with #1 for a few different reasons: it is slightly closer to the beach, has a shorter rental minimum and came furnished.

From personal experience selling property, I cannot stand lowball offers.  So while we didn't want to make an offer that could be taken as insincere on #2, the property had been sitting for a month and based upon comparable sales, I thought we could push it a little.  It's probably easiest to explain how it went down with mock numbers.  Let's say the list price was $99,000.  Our initial offer was $19,000 under list price, or $80,000.  One would expect the sellers to come back with a counteroffer in the middle, $90,000, and then we would counter their counter with $85,000.  Instead of wasting time with all of this, the sellers cut out the middle step and countered with $85,000.  I have to say that the listing agent here seems far more professional than the first one we dealt with.

We accepted their counteroffer hoping that by being cooperative and not pushing for a few thousand dollars, the sellers would be more likely to work with us after the inspection.  You know something will come up on inspection.  It always does!  The inspection took place last week and the report on Condo #2 was fairly tame.  There were a lot of minor issues, mainly plumbing and bathroom related.  Individually, they really weren't big deals but put them all together and we were looking at a bit of a headache.  We asked the sellers, and they agreed, to repair all the plumbing problems and one electrical issue.  There were several other items that we'll deal with later as they won't cause further problems if they aren't corrected now.

What really surprised me is that neither one of theses condos has smoke detectors.  Massachusetts law requires working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms in all residences.  When you sell property, you need a certificate of compliance from the fire department.

The process is progressing without any hiccups.  Our realtor had told us that because the market is on an upswing, oftentimes the appraisal will come in for less than the selling price.  Supposedly, the appraisal report was due back yesterday and we haven't heard anything.  I'm going with no news is good news on that one.  So that's all I have for now.