[Tomas]

Has anybody thought about the person selling the home was older and did the best they could. Sometimes you think it will only take you so long to accomplish something and it takes longer. 60 days to repair, pack, then move sounds like a long time .... until your the one that has to pack, get people to help you move, make repairs to all the things the new owners want. In this instance I would say they got so far behind they did not know what to do and probably did there best, but ran out of time. Then you have to be out of the house by a certain time, you have nobody to help you. Why do I say this. I just got done selling - 60 days - sounded like "no problem" until the last 7 days. You end up throwing things away - and find the things you could not pack because you did not know which box to put them in are taking more time than you thought. To the new owner.
At this point - just clean up whatever mess the previous owner left - put a smile on your face - and set the home up the way you want. As you can see complaining is doing nothing for you. Everybody got there money and are already working on the next home that is being sold.
Good luck to you and hope you make this your castle - you deserve it. Forget about the previous owner - they are probably dealing with plenty of issues they thought was going to be easy.

[LAFwUs]

Op here - THANK YOU to everyone that has replied!!
I have read each one and learned from many of them.

To those that ask why we closed, I have tried to address that previously in follow up post.
We had, what we thought were very legitimate concerns should we had not done so when we did, combined with assurances that all would be handled prior to.
Our trust in those "assurances" & "promises", is admittedly part of the blame.
I have to own that.
It was not naivety, just misplaced faith in apparently the wrong people.
Anyway;
My wife & I discussed our range of options at great length today, while we spent the first of many hours to come, trying to clean up, mop and assess the damages, things not repaired, needing attention, etc. The list is a good long one. I'll have no lack of things to do for the next 6 months...lol

We have chosen to move forward at our own expense and effort, as stated we own it now, good or bad. We signed and took possession, albeit the hard way. Little to nothing would probably be accomplished in complaining to TPTB at the VLS, except more wasted time & interaction with people who simply didn't care to begin with...
Thank you again everyone. Some of you, especially those that send private messages, have really made us feel welcome & understood and I appreciate it perhaps more than I can express here.
LaF w/us

[wsachs]

I agree. People buy a $600K house and seem to be too cheap to hiring a lawyer that would act in their interest especially at closing. The agent got money, as did the title company and bank and seller and you got screwed. No one representing you.

[La lamy]

So sorry you had to deal with all that. I think in general people are quite satisfied with their house purchase in TV, but I had a bit of an issue too. It was a private sale, so no agents to deal with, but the house had TONS of crap left inside when I got it. The people selling wanted to keep a key at closing so they could take their time finishing emptying it, and I assume keep living in it while I was away. YEA RIGHT, that wasn't going to happen!!!
I was leaving 2 days later, so I spent 5 hours NON STOP putting their crap into garbage bags and leaving it outside for them to sort through. I put what I thought might be needed in one pile, the obvious old crap in another pile. I think it was about 40 full garbage bags. I wasn't going to come back to a VERY DIRTY house full of crap, so I spent another 5 hours the next day cleaning.
Not the best start to owning a home in TV, but it was a blip in an otherwise awesome investment.
Good luck to you for your house to feel good soon.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by La lamy

So sorry you had to deal with all that. I think in general people are quite satisfied with their house purchase in TV, but I had a bit of an issue too. It was a private sale, so no agents to deal with, but the house had TONS of crap left inside when I got it. The people selling wanted to keep a key at closing so they could take their time finishing emptying it, and I assume keep living in it while I was away. YEA RIGHT, that wasn't going to happen!!!
I was leaving 2 days later, so I spent 5 hours NON STOP putting their crap into garbage bags and leaving it outside for them to sort through. I put what I thought might be needed in one pile, the obvious old crap in another pile. I think it was about 40 full garbage bags. I wasn't going to come back to a VERY DIRTY house full of crap, so I spent another 5 hours the next day cleaning.
Not the best start to owning a home in TV, but it was a blip in an otherwise awesome investment.
Good luck to you for your house to feel good soon.

Wow. I bet that, if you had held the line and insisted that the house needed to be empty and clean before you paid for it, it would have magically happened. There are liquidation companies that will clear out a house in less than a day. I would have hired one of those companies.

[Travelhunter123]

Originally Posted by LAFwUs

Thank you for those that have helped by reply & congrats.
After way too much BS, we are supposed to meet to get keys, etc this evening.
Cleaning & repairs I suppose are on us at this point. Given how other things have been handled on the sellers side/agent, that's probably for the best.

As far as the pre-close walk thru; that was conducted this past monday. It was the 1st time we had seen the house void of 20yrs of personal items inside. We noted the issues of concern and we were "assured" at that time, the remaining item removals, cleaning, repairs, etc would be handled before close!
That was 57 days into the 60 day process and 3 days before any storm arrived. So yes, that doesn't make sense why it wasn't done.

We were not told, none of that had not been done - until after close.

Since no one showed up for close as repeatedly promised and we had to jump thru constantly changing last minute hoops, just to get that done, we had no access to the house to see one way or another and as of the time of this writing - still dont. Hopefully tonight.

Regarding the seller, she is out of state (so I'm told). All matters were done via her VLS selling agent. All her signings were done electronically. We have purchased two previous properties in WA state, never once had the seller attend closing, but agents did attend and all things were done well before that particular date without hiccup.
The whole process was filled with lots of final hour BS, tons of unkept promises and the whole "trust us, we're the villages, we got this!", which has lead us to where we are now....

A previous reply, said it best - we were simply too accommodating and this was the result.
Lesson Learned!
Perhaps this thread can serve as a warning to others.

Get estimates, take pictures and go to small claims court
You may actually be compensated and if not at least your complaint will be heard and documented

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by La lamy

So sorry you had to deal with all that. I think in general people are quite satisfied with their house purchase in TV, but I had a bit of an issue too. It was a private sale, so no agents to deal with, but the house had TONS of crap left inside when I got it. The people selling wanted to keep a key at closing so they could take their time finishing emptying it, and I assume keep living in it while I was away. YEA RIGHT, that wasn't going to happen!!!
I was leaving 2 days later, so I spent 5 hours NON STOP putting their crap into garbage bags and leaving it outside for them to sort through. I put what I thought might be needed in one pile, the obvious old crap in another pile. I think it was about 40 full garbage bags. I wasn't going to come back to a VERY DIRTY house full of crap, so I spent another 5 hours the next day cleaning.
Not the best start to owning a home in TV, but it was a blip in an otherwise awesome investment.
Good luck to you for your house to feel good soon.

Interesting approach. I like it. I would have likely gone one step further and moved it all to a storage facility. The kind that offers "first month free!" Then give them the key. They have a month to either sort it out and handle it or continue to pay for the storage unit on their own dime. That also meets most state's eviction demands upon the landlords, that they maintain the evictees personal property for 30 days post eviction. Just another feather to CYA.

[Finchs]

Am I the only one who doesn't know what VLS is????

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Finchs

Am I the only one who doesn't know what VLS is????

No.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by LAFwUs

Op here - THANK YOU to everyone that has replied!!
I have read each one and learned from many of them.

To those that ask why we closed, I have tried to address that previously in follow up post.
We had, what we thought were very legitimate concerns should we had not done so when we did, combined with assurances that all would be handled prior to.
Our trust in those "assurances" & "promises", is admittedly part of the blame.
I have to own that.
It was not naivety, just misplaced faith in apparently the wrong people.
Anyway;
My wife & I discussed our range of options at great length today, while we spent the first of many hours to come, trying to clean up, mop and assess the damages, things not repaired, needing attention, etc. The list is a good long one. I'll have no lack of things to do for the next 6 months...lol

We have chosen to move forward at our own expense and effort, as stated we own it now, good or bad. We signed and took possession, albeit the hard way. Little to nothing would probably be accomplished in complaining to TPTB at the VLS, except more wasted time & interaction with people who simply didn't care to begin with...
Thank you again everyone. Some of you, especially those that send private messages, have really made us feel welcome & understood and I appreciate it perhaps more than I can express here.
LaF w/us

Yes, I remember the neighbor coming by as I opened the door with mop in hand…lol. And if you are painting, just touching up, and the paint is not original - the warranty people know the original colors even back more than 10 years - take a small piece from where you won’t really see it when you put it back and HomeDepot will color match perfectly so you only have a bit to paint. You’ll find that people at this forum can be very helpful as to how to do it yourself and where to get things.

My husband and I actually ended up loving to work on our home, we had the interest and the ability to do minor work ourselves. Hubby put in slat walls in the garage, husky tool cabinets, and made a small wood workshop for himself. I made an art studio from the west bedroom, wall mounted the TV sets, sound bars. I got professional help with that. Many other personal touches. Now several years later, the house is just the way we want it. Good luck, I hope you enjoy your new home.

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by Finchs

Am I the only one who doesn't know what VLS is????

Village Listing Service (VLS)
Vs
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki

Village Listing Service (VLS)
Vs
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

Correct. But there is a misconception that the agents who work for The Villages are not licensed by the State of Florida to sell real estate. That is not true. They are. Also, many people do not have a clue about what a "Realtor" is. A Realtor is an agent who has been assigned that title by a "private" organization called The National Association of Realtors (NAR). It has nothing to do with their state license. Many of the VLS agents are experienced agents who came to work for The Villages, and have been Realtors for many years, but they can no longer use that title on their business cards. That is because The Villages has decided to not become a member of the NAR. It has nothing to do with their agents competence, experience, or Florida license. In order to be a Realtor, you must work for a broker who is a member of the NAR. The Villages is not an NAR member.

[Tdothage]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

& that folks, is why amateurs should use Lawyers when purchasing real estate.

Curious who the seller and.buyers agents were?

[Barborv]

Usually if the sellers aren't out including all items by given date and work that the owners were supposed to do, isn't done, it usually is stipulated that the owners have to pay a daily rate per day. Thats how it is up North. But up North use lawyers. Your Village salesperson/realtor should be taking care of this.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Barborv

Usually if the sellers aren't out including all items by given date and work that the owners were supposed to do, isn't done, it usually is stipulated that the owners have to pay a daily rate per day. Thats how it is up North. But up North use lawyers. Your Village salesperson/realtor should be taking care of this.

Lawyer or not, I have never agreed to or would ever agree to anything like that, even up North. The seller is out and everything in the house is gone, or I would not sign the closing papers. Period. Also, I would never agree to a lease back to the seller.