After seven months of searching, we finally have a house in the mountains under contract. The guy dropping off the radon test noticed one of the walls in the basement was bowing.

We contacted the sellers agent to see if they were aware of any structural issues with the home, and if it had been inspected recently. Both the sellers agent, and the sellers swore up and down they were unaware of what we were talking about, and nobody had inspected it recently. It was used primarily as a vacation home, so we shrugged it off thinking they just hadn't been in the house long enough to notice any issues.

We contacted a structural engineer to come out and take a look. As the engineer walks in the door he starts laughing. He tells us he had inspected this home a month ago, at the request of the sellers and sellers agent. They were concerned about some signs of structural issues. He walked around the whole house and pointed out everything he had already noted in a previous report that had been sent to the out-of-state sellers.

Luckily there's nothing wrong with the structure other than some normal settling (and one very bad drywall contractor), but there are some non-structural logs need to be replaced, some drainage issues that need to be addressed with dirt work, and some water intrusion. The sellers and listing agent knew this sigh.

The listing agent is now very aware that we hired the exact same engineer that they did. Do you think she's sweating it? Why risk lying and not disclosing it when she *knew* we were hiring an engineer (and in a very small community).

Ok rant over. I know most disclosures are useless, but this one was on another level compared to the other houses we've looked at.

I would absolutely report that to her broker and whatever ethics board you can report that to. If they had it inspected and knew there was nothing wrong, why on earth hide it?

Very serious violations of realtor ethics and statutory laws with very powerful remedies.

The industry gets BETTER when these things are reported and addressed.

I would walk away after being lied to like that. How can you trust them on anything else now?

For your protections ALWAYS order a home inspection.

The cost of obtaining one is virtually nonexistant, in comparison to the value of your potential new home.

Good eye.

Edit: report them to their local board as well, at minimum they will pay a fine, and potentially they could have their license revoked. That's a good place to start, and will hopefully prevent them from ever doing this to someone else again.

You could ask for ombudsman services, and resolve the issue with some mercy...

Realtor ethics.... the ultimate oxymoron

i would also be aware of the sunken cost fallacy here. I know you are a ways down the path towards purchasing so backing out may seem like a terrible idea, but if the owners and their realtor were hiding this, id have a very major issue trusting anything else in this transaction. It isnt too late to back away.

like agdaddy said, let us know how this thing goes.

GunRangeGal said:

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After seven months of searching, we finally have a house in the mountains under contract. The guy dropping off the radon test noticed one of the walls in the basement was bowing.

We contacted the sellers agent to see if they were aware of any structural issues with the home, and if it had been inspected recently. Both the sellers agent, and the sellers swore up and down they were unaware of what we were talking about, and nobody had inspected it recently. It was used primarily as a vacation home, so we shrugged it off thinking they just hadn't been in the house long enough to notice any issues.

We contacted a structural engineer to come out and take a look. As the engineer walks in the door he starts laughing. He tells us he had inspected this home a month ago, at the request of the sellers and sellers agent. They were concerned about some signs of structural issues. He walked around the whole house and pointed out everything he had already noted in a previous report that had been sent to the out-of-state sellers.

Luckily there's nothing wrong with the structure other than some normal settling (and one very bad drywall contractor), but there are some non-structural logs need to be replaced, some drainage issues that need to be addressed with dirt work, and some water intrusion. The sellers and listing agent knew this sigh.

The listing agent is now very aware that we hired the exact same engineer that they did. Do you think she's sweating it? Why risk lying and not disclosing it when she *knew* we were hiring an engineer (and in a very small community).

Ok rant over. I know most disclosures are useless, but this one was on another level compared to the other houses we've looked at.

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PLEASE report the agent to the broker. If the agent IS the broker, please report to the state (if in Texas, you would report to TREC). The only way to address this type of behavior is by holding people accountable when they do things like this.

We actually really lucked out. They had a some showings, but only one other offer was on the table. That buyer had horses. The well permit does not allow for livestock, so they backed out.

I think most buyers were concerned about the commute into Denver, because it looks pretty far out there on the map. Luckily, it's the same drive time as many of the other homes we have looked at. It's also outdated and need a makeover. At first glance, it looks like there is no way to get Internet, or a cell signal out there Which would be a dealbreaker for most. We got it all squared away, and will have high speed Internet, and decent cell signal up and running by closing.

With all that said, I think we have more leverage than most buying situations in Colorado right now. We already are under contract for 7% under list price, and will be asking for more with bids for repairs in hand.

And just as the icing on top here's what happened with the agent representing the winning bid on our current house.

We got a cash offer on our house, quick close, with a leaseback allowing us to get some projects done at the new house. We wanted to change a few things on the contract, so we sent over a counter proposal at 3:30, set to expire at 7 PM. The agent immediately responded and said her buyers would be signing shortly.

Hours go by, and we hear nothing. The contract expires, and we hear nothing. Our agent is on the horn trying to figure out what's going on. It looks like we have been ghosted, with no explanation why they never signed the counter proposal.

After five hours of waiting, we reach out to the next best contract, and they immediately start writing up a new offer to update the dates and some of our requests.

Juuuust then, the cash agent reaches out. She had never actually forwarded the contract to her clients, and then her phone died, and she didn't bother to turn it back on until well after the counter expired.

My agent was angry. Obviously we wanted the cash offer, so we had them sign. That meant, my agent had to reach out to the financed offer and explain what happened and to not send a new contract. He felt awful about getting their hopes up.

We let the buyers agent know just how close she came to losing this contract. She would have had to explain to her clients that she let her phone die, and in the meantime let the contract expire. What the heck?!

My guess is cash offers have less headaches IRT closing or can close faster. Cash is still king.

This listing agent is batty. She thinks she can get the roof certified, even though inspections clearly show it's passed its useful lifespan. We had already factored in a metal roof when we looked at the house, but did not expect it to be a "must do" as opposed to a "want to." Luckily, we can get materials at cost, so it won't sting as bad as it could have.

She also admitted to being aware of the few things the structural engineer found, and has no real explanation as to why she did not have her clients disclose it, and why she didn't inform us when we asked about it. She's just a piece of work, and our agent is going to be addressing the ethics violation.

That sounds a little like extortion.

How the hell does an inspector go around breaking stuff?!?! I've not been to a whole lot of home inspections, but I didn't see the inspectors I have gone around with do anything that would break something, let a lone several things.