Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: My wife and I moved into our new home and found that the seller had switched out the washer and dyer.  Our buyer’s rep did write in the offer “appliances per MLS” in the personal property clause of the contract.  This is a little sleazy,  but the [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: We have finished moving out of our home that we are selling, only to learn that the buyers are canceling the sale. This is a total surprise to everyone involved, especially us. To make matters worse, we’ve been told we can’t retain the buyer’s deposit for damages, [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: We were prepared to wait almost a week to make an offer on a property because the listing agent said offers would be reviewed Wednesday at 4 p.m. The day before the offer deadline, the home was designated a pending sale on the Multiple Listing Service’s consumer [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: We recently were involved in a multiple-offer situation to purchase a very nice home. After a little negotiating on the price, we were awarded the property. However, the bank appraised the home too low on the first appraisal, which was explained to us as an exterior only. [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q ~ We sold our house in August 1998. Before the sale, an inspection
of the bathroom floor revealed some water damage. The inspector
did not find structural damage. We replace the vinyl and wood under
the floor. Later the inspector cleared the bathroom and the buyer
signed off on [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: Recently, for the second time, we canceled transactions due to the condition of each home. Both sellers had cursory or no inspections that truly revealed the state of each property. Our buyer’s agent explained that it is protocol to send each report to the seller’s agent as [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: We arrived home after last Sunday’s open house to find the listing agent had removed his signs, fliers and the Realtor key safe with the spare key to our home still inside it. We feel this is a breach of contract as we are only five weeks [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: Recently, during the showing of our home, a buyer’s real estate agent broker the key off in the deadbolt. This agent has repeatedly refused to pay the locksmith’s bill. The lock had worked fine for years. Who should pay for the locksmith’s bill?

A: Do you think the [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: We are selling our house and the buyer’s home inspector is recommending further inspection of the sub-area by an appropriate professional. We don’t feel this is warranted, as our pre-sale inspection noted basically the same observations and comments. Should we grant an extension to the buyer for [...]

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Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News
Q: While shopping for a smaller home we have come across numerous real estate agents who seem, to put it bluntly, incompetent. What are they teaching at real estate schools how to be unprepared and ill-mannered?

A: Ouch. While it is true our industry has gone through changes at [...]

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