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An important take away from this article is simply the perils of home buying. People usually only do it once or twice in their life (I have done it twice so fa

An important take away from this article is simply the perils of home buying. People usually only do it once or twice in their life (I have done it twice so far) and it's really easy to make a very expensive mistake. Imagine this article with another property problem instead of Sun Run: a mother-in-law unit with a tenant, a disputed property line, a requirement to retrofit the house to make it earthquake proof, illegal additions to the house.. etc. All those things can be pitfalls in a house purchase that a buyer will not know much about. The realtor sounds extremely negligent to not correctly inform the buyer about the true situation until after offer is made. That should be a flag. Realtors understand loss aversion and that you can get very fixated on a particular house. Better to get you to start thinking the house will be yours then break the bad news to you. People just don't buy houses often enough, and they get too emotionally attached, to make rational decisions. Listen to the author talk about how this is the place where he might raise a child. That sounds so portentous, but really wherever you live is where you might raise a child. Owning a house can be great, but the best way to do it is to think about it like buying a used car. Realize the people you are working with are nicer, smarter used car salesmen. Check everything out with true third parties and be ready to back out.

fbonetti 8y ago
> An important take away from this article is simply the perils of home buying ... it's really easy to make a very expensive mistake. This article was interesting but I don't think the author was at any risk of making a financial mistake. At the end of the day, Sunrun had a lien on the property. The title company and the lender would not allow the sale to go through unless the Jug estate was able to deliver a clear title. If the title company somehow missed the fact that Sunrun had a lien on the property, the author's title insurance would cover the damages. > Check everything out with true third parties and be ready to back out. The insurance company, title company, lender, and home inspector are already highly incentivized to ensure that the property isn't a dud.
- georgeecollins 8y ago
  You are right. He made an arrangement to have the seller remove the equipment that SunRun itself said was rare. People don't often accept surprise problems in homes with less negotiation. Don't do that.
astura 8y ago
>The realtor sounds extremely negligent to not correctly inform the buyer about the true situation until after offer is made. Its par for the course - realtors rarely know anything at all about the property they are selling other than what the MLS says (and the MLS is often inaccurate and/or missing information). I was looking at a house and asked if the fireplace was functional and the seller's agent answered with "I don't live here, so I don't know." Another time, back when I was looking to rent, I asked about laundry facilities in the building, she was like "idk." Neither even offered to get an answer for me.
- georgeecollins 8y ago
  I agree. My point is that people go into it thinking the realtor knows what they are doing. And they probably do in general. But there are a lot of blind spots. Also, an earlier poster said that inspectors are highly motivated to protect you. I can only offer anecdotes, but my experience was that realtors liked some inspectors more than others. All inspectors probably know they have to tell you about big problems. Some are really thorough about all issues including small ones. Realtors, who want to get the deal done, hate the nitpicky inspectors. But nitpicky is good for negotiating. I am no expert, I am just sharing my impression.
- baking 8y ago
  Realtors know they are responsible for representations so they are very careful about limiting their knowledge of the property to exactly what the owners have stated on the listing. Playing dumb is really important to being a listing broker.
phyzome 8y ago
I think we should probably assume the author goes by she/her, given that she's pregnant by the end of the story and her Twitter bio doesn't give explicit pronouns. :-)

fbonetti 8y ago

> An important take away from this article is simply the perils of home buying ... it's really easy to make a very expensive mistake. This article was interesting but I don't think the author was at any risk of making a financial mistake. At the end of the day, Sunrun had a lien on the property. The title company and the lender would not allow the sale to go through unless the Jug estate was able to deliver a clear title. If the title company somehow missed the fact that Sunrun had a lien on the property, the author's title insurance would cover the damages. > Check everything out with true third parties and be ready to back out. The insurance company, title company, lender, and home inspector are already highly incentivized to ensure that the property isn't a dud.

georgeecollins 8y ago
You are right. He made an arrangement to have the seller remove the equipment that SunRun itself said was rare. People don't often accept surprise problems in homes with less negotiation. Don't do that.

astura 8y ago

>The realtor sounds extremely negligent to not correctly inform the buyer about the true situation until after offer is made. Its par for the course - realtors rarely know anything at all about the property they are selling other than what the MLS says (and the MLS is often inaccurate and/or missing information). I was looking at a house and asked if the fireplace was functional and the seller's agent answered with "I don't live here, so I don't know." Another time, back when I was looking to rent, I asked about laundry facilities in the building, she was like "idk." Neither even offered to get an answer for me.

georgeecollins 8y ago
I agree. My point is that people go into it thinking the realtor knows what they are doing. And they probably do in general. But there are a lot of blind spots. Also, an earlier poster said that inspectors are highly motivated to protect you. I can only offer anecdotes, but my experience was that realtors liked some inspectors more than others. All inspectors probably know they have to tell you about big problems. Some are really thorough about all issues including small ones. Realtors, who want to get the deal done, hate the nitpicky inspectors. But nitpicky is good for negotiating. I am no expert, I am just sharing my impression.
baking 8y ago
Realtors know they are responsible for representations so they are very careful about limiting their knowledge of the property to exactly what the owners have stated on the listing. Playing dumb is really important to being a listing broker.

phyzome 8y ago

I think we should probably assume the author goes by she/her, given that she's pregnant by the end of the story and her Twitter bio doesn't give explicit pronouns. :-)