This was an exciting sale. The sellers had been trying to sell the home for a year and really struggled at it. The reason the house wasn't selling wasn't because of the price. (The home was worth what the sellers were asking for.) But, there was a minor complication. The neighborhood where the house was located was considering some significant upgrades. They were considering assessing everyone in the neighborhood for $7,000 to $8,000 each to cover the cost. The buyers would look at the house but then get cold feet because of the pending assessment. Most buyers would say something like, "I'll buy your house, but I want an $8,000 discount on the price because of the special assessment." The sellers would reply, "I'm glad you'll buy my house, but I am not going to discount $8,000 because we think the special assessment will not go through." The sellers told me about the problem when I listed the home. I thought about it for a few moments and proposed a solution.
Here's what I told them:
"We sell the house and agree to hold $8,000 in an escrow account for one year. If the assessment is approved, the escrow will be released to the buyers, but you get your $8,000 back if it's denied." We all agreed that it was a good idea. The home sold very fast for 98.3% of the asking price. The $8,000 was put into escrow, and an attorney typed up the agreement.
It turned out that the sellers were correct. The opposition in the
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