Tip of the Day

You are selling your house. The buyer does a walk through just before settlement and finds that the house is not in the "broom clean, all appliances, mechanical, and electrical systems in good working order..." condition described by your sales contract. Is there a problem? Yes, but not one that can't be solved if the buyer really wants to buy and you really want to sell your house. You can probably proceed to settlement and work out a way to have funds escrowed (as a sort of "guarantee" to the buyer) until the correct condition is achieved by you or someone you employ. Alternatively, you can give the seller an allowance that he or she agrees is adequate to solve the problem (broken appliance, jetted tub whose jets don't work, etc.) A third option is to delay settlement, get the item(s) repaired or replaced, and then go to settlement. However, this "solution" is usually so disruptive to everyone (after all, the buyers' moving van has probably been hired for that day, and you may be depending on a wire transfer from this settlement to pay for the home you are moving into) that one of the first two is preferable.