Common Reasons Courtenay Home Sales Fall Through

Wouldn’t it be great if every home sale breezed through without a hitch? The offer is made, and accepted, and you’re moved in within 30 days—perfect! Well, that’s sometimes not the case.

Home sales can fall through for a number of reasons, which is why having a REALTOR® on your side is crucial to help you navigate them. Following are five common reasons home sales can fall through.

The Home Inspection exposes major issues

Whether you’re purchasing a brand new build or an older property, getting a home inspection helps uncover defects or repairs that need doing. Minor issues can usually be solved between the buyer and seller. If an inspector finds large cracks in the foundation or a leaky roof, that could be problematic. That can definitely kill a deal or bring it back to the table for further negotiations. It may also require more exploratory work involving what was discovered.

Sellers can potentially avoid those problems by having their home pre-inspected before putting it on the market. In this way, you can fix minor issues. If you come across a major one, it will give you time to think about how to tackle it when it comes up later.

The seller’s REALTOR® might suggest disclosing a major issue in the listing and pricing the home accordingly, for example.

Documents reveal red flags

If you’re purchasing a condominium, you and your REALTOR® should first review documents pertaining to the building(s). Documents include depreciation reports, meeting minutes, engineering reports, and financial summaries. For example, if you’re looking at a condo in a 10-unit building, you could find out the roof soon needs replacing at a cost of $100,000. You could also find the building’s funding reserve is low. That means to get the roof replaced, everybody would owe $10,000. Depreciation reports can show other expensive items that need replacing, like windows or elevators. This can kill a deal if the costs become too onerous and the strata corporation has not planned for them.

Financing isn’t approved or a Home Appraisal doesn’t match the sale price

If you’re not pre-approved for a mortgage, you may not get financing in place which could tank the sale. Even if you’ve been pre-approved, your bank will need to appraise the home you’re buying before finalizing your mortgage. In competitive offer situations, people’s emotions might get the best of them. The price gets higher and the bank might disagree with the value. That means there may be a shortfall from the agreed purchase/sale price. You can still finance a large portion of it, but to make this sale work now, you’d have to bring more money to the table.

Buyers unable to afford a larger down payment would not be able to secure financing so may back out of the deal.

Small Details can cause big problems

Sometimes, buyers and sellers agree on a purchase price but then get bogged down on other points. They can’t agree on occupancy dates or what’s included with the home, for example. A buyer may want to move into the home quickly, but the seller needs more time.

Usually there’s a creative solution to make it work. The seller could do a rent back for a month or longer, say. It can still spill over to other facets of the negotiation and sour the whole deal though. Sometimes buyers want the seller to include a lot of items. It is usually best to leave that alone and reach terms everyone can agree upon. Then, after the deal is done, the buyers can make them an offer for extras, but keep it separate from the real estate (the home).

Buyers get Cold Feet

Until all conditions are met a deal is not done and buyers can walk away if they have a reason for doing so. Conditions to be met may include a home appraisal, inspection, and approval of financing. There could be other conditions as well. It is important for the buyers to pay their deposit too.

In order for a successful sale to occur, all of the foregoing must be satisfied and signed off on in a timely manner. Get peace of mind by working with a REALTOR® With so many steps involved, working with a REALTOR® is extremely beneficial.

If you’re working on your own, you don’t have representation to protect and guide you. A REALTOR® looks out for your best interests. I will follow through on all due diligence. This allows buyers and sellers to understand exactly what they are getting involved in. It also lays out the costs and the process so you can feel 100% comfortable with every decision you’re making.

If you’re buying or selling your home soon, connect with Janice, a local REALTOR® in Courtenay, BC. She will ensure you’re taken care of through the entire process from the expected highs to the unexpected lows.