We’re under contract to sell our home at the end of October. We disclosed a special assessment, as we received a letter from our village in 2023 letting us know we would need to replace our lead water line to the house. Our street has been ripped up getting new water and sewer lines for a year now. We never signed a contract or received a finalized amount on the cost to replace the lead line to our home- but were told in a letter it would be anywhere from $2,500-$5000, which would be added onto the water bill over a period of 12 months. Initially we told the buyers we would put $5,000 in escrow for them to use whenever they received notice that the line would be replaced (probably spring 2025, but again, there’s no contract with the village and a contractor right now - it’s being bid out). Our realtor informed us today that the buyers financing wouldn’t accept the $5,000 in escrow… and they want us to get a private quote from a contractor to have it replaced. Does that make sense? This would all be fine but on top of this we’ve owned a new home now for over a month while waiting to sell ours, I’m 6 months pregnant dealing with contractors and issues galore on the new house and I really don’t want to add another thing to my plate like finding someone to bid this out. Any other options? Thanks for any insight
Yea makes sense. A lender doesn’t want to sign off on a loan if there’s potentially a large risk to the property, and it sounds like this could be a large risk for them. This is especially true when it comes to HOA involved properties and it’s hard to hide since the lender will be asking the HOA for additional information and this would be something that has to be disclosed anyways.
If they want you to get a private quote, then I would definitely do that and try your best to get it sold. Good luck.
@Kimberley Thanks! No HOA involved. Village just requiring the work be done and they’re actually paying for half of it.
Lead and copper service line replacements are fun times. Utilities across the US are working through the EPA requirement to inventory and replace. Originally, the utility had to replace both its service side and the customer side, but liability became a factor. Still, some utilities are paying for the replacement of the customer side while others aren’t, like yours. As daunting as it may be, call the utility office and ask who they would recommend to do the work, get a couple of names and prices from both, and pick.
@SimonGlen It’s been a fun journey for sure. Moving as it’s finally coming to completion unfortunately! The village is paying 50%, I left that part out but the $2,500-$5,000 is still correct.
They don’t want the $5,000?? Or they’re suspicious it could be MORE than $5,000??
Move as scheduled without letting the bank know with that $5K closing credit to buyer. It just messes up their calculations, etc.
Give that $5,000 out of Seller’s net proceeds AFTER the closing and make a separate agreement/amendment regarding that between you and the Buyer. Bank doesn’t have to know and doesn’t have to get involved.
Still not happy?? Let the BUYER find the vendor, get them scheduled to come out and inspect for quotes and handle it the same way.
That’s a good suggestion, I was wondering if we could do that. I’m happy to give them $5,000 just to be done with it all and close on time, as well as save myself the headache of trying to get this bid for them! I thought it was crazy to get hung up over $2,500-$5,000 in the grand scheme of $520,000!
@TonnyJacks It may be that the buyer is pushing their budget already and that is why the lender wants confirmation the 5K will cover it. Paying the 5K separately will make it less likely for the house to close if that is the case. Either way, the lender will need the quote for underwriting since they know this costs exists and they need to verify the buyer can handle it, regardless of how the 5K is delivered.
the poster you’re responding to is giving spectacularly poor, likely testosterone-filled advice.
the need to replace the pipes is known, to “all the world” now. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle. So, the question becomes "is there ANY alternative to getting them replaced in the next 3 weeks?