Updated: We've spent the past few days sharing Curbed LA readers' first-time homebuying horror stories as part of a network-wide contest. So whose horror story is the most horrible? Now is the time to decide! This poll will be open until 10 9 am tomorrow morning; voting irregularities will be strictly policed. The winner of this poll will advance to the national round, where Los Angeles's best horror storyteller will have a shot at winning a $2,500 gift card to the home store of his or her choice (standard contests rules apply). Before the vote, let's recap the week's tales:
Contestant #1: The Dreamy But Untouchable Fourplex
"I called the niece and got a shocked response. 'That god-damned realtor! The house is not on the market and we have many things to take care of before I can get my uncle's affairs in order to sell.'"
Contestant #2: Why You Shouldn't Work With Family When Buying a House
"Also during inspection, I noticed that one of the tubs seemed a little clogged. The inspector said it was a minor issue and any store bought drain cleaner would fix the problem?he was wrong. After bringing out a plumber, I was told that the trap needed to be replaced. Well, since my house is on a slab foundation, replacing the trap will require major work. Another $1500 to replace the trap and countless amounts of money to remodel everything that will get torn out. Since I don’t have the money to do a complete remodel, that bathtub is not being used."
Contestant #3: Mortgage Broker Takes (Extreme) Issue With Lack of Sale
"Then one day we got a phone call saying that the owner has re-thought our offer on the condo and wanted to take it. Well ?. we turned it down knowing he must have been having a hard time to unload the place for the price he wanted. The next day we received the below email from the mortgage broker who I had only met 1 time months ago, when we crunched those starting numbers. You be the judge on the tone of this thing. It’s filled with bullying, pressure and even threats towards first time homebuyers."
Contestant #4: In Short Sale Purgatory, Where No one Knows Anything
"Turns out there was a second mortgage on the house (zoinks!), and it had just gone into collections today. If we wanted the house, we were going to have to pony up $14,000 to drag it back out. After using our life savings for the down payment we didn’t have that kind of money lying around. Could we roll it in with our financing? Our realtor wasn’t sure (she didn’t know much about short sales) but we found out from our mortgage broker that we could. But that put us behind schedule. Now we might not close on time. And if we didn’t, were we out $14,000? (you guessed it?nobody knows!)"
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