Picky! PIcky! Picky!
Not you, the sellers - definitely. It sounds like you bent over backwards to negotiate in good faith and they nickled, dimed and quartered!

If you don't get the condo, it's not meant to be. I would think they couldn't add in the info about the condo assessment if it wasn't in the listing. They should be eating that.

What is your credit union? I'd love to be able to check out their rates and zero fees since we will be selling and buying soon.

Most assuredly they are picky. As Sparkals said you've bent over backwards. I'd tell them "thanks but not thanks" and walk away. Who knows what they'll ask for next. You don't need that kind of grief when purchasing a place to live, it's all ready stressful enough.

I'm sure there are other condos that are just as nice just waiting for you.

Please accept my sympathy. You've been good buyers. I don't think they've been good sellers.

Sometimes, you run into people who get so caught up in The Art of the Deal that it becomes about winning...to the detriment of all that is sane and rational. Sounds like you may have run into sellers who care more about winning than selling. Walk away. I would have walked at discovering a special assessment that wasn't disclosed upfront. That ain't cricket.

There are plenty of rational sellers in the world and you're in DC. It's not like there's a dearth of condos.

Welcome to the world of real estate!! Quite often deals go back and forth because either the buyer or seller gets stubborn or picky. If I look at it from a seller's perspective it seems that their thought process is if they dropped on the price, then they don't want to have to make another mortgage payment and would like to close before that comes due. We once encountered sellers like this and they countered our offer with one price if we closed before their next mortgage was due, and another if we closed after their mortgage was due. It was a buyer's market when we purchased that home and the seller was basically walking away even. $1000 made a difference to that seller and perhaps your sellers are in the same position. So while you perceive them as picky, maybe they're just desperate to walk away with something out of the deal.

Well you have done more than enough from your side to close the deal, looks like the condo was 'priced to sit' to begin with. I think it is time for you to move on.

There should be plenty condo inventory already in DC. I believe YOY inventory numbers are up 22% at this time of the year in DC and it will increase even more going into spring/summer. So you should have plenty of invetory to choose from.

Thanks for all the sympathy :) We were beginning to think it was us!

sparksals - we are with the State Dept Fed Credit Union (see link below). They are much slower to close than other lenders and don't have as many loan products, but their fees are lower than anyone else's (zero loan origination fee, for ex) and they got us a better interest rate. They pay better rates than the big banks on CDs & other investments as well.

DH and I understand that the sellers are trying not to pay another mortgage payment for March. We don't want to have to pay an additional 2 months of rent either (what it will take to get out of our current lease), but we aren't subtracting that from the price.

The way we figure it is - since there are no other buyers at the moment, they will have to make their payment whether we are in the picture or not. And who's not to say the place will sit on the market until April or even longer?

My guess is that they are thinking that someone will come along and offer more than us. But with 120+ days and counting, I can't imagine this being very likely.

It's true, there are other condos. But there is a lot out there and we are tired of looking!

Will keep you posted.

Here is a link that might be useful: State Dept Fed Credit Union

cordovamom - The thing with not wanting to pay another mortgage payment makes sense. At the same time, these sellers seem to be over the top and have created the additional mortgage payment on their own by nickel and diming. Considering they countered AFTER a firm and final and with less closing costs to the buyer, they were out of line. Having said that, I have never thought of offering two closing dates depending on when the mortgage is due. Wouldn't the amount paid for the next mortgage payment be credited if it's closed a few days after the payment was made?

OP - thanks for the info on the State Dept CU - DH was in the military and we qualify for the Pentagon CU, so maybe we will for the SDCU as well. Thanks for the info!

We bought a condo in Falls Church area this past summer. Lot of condos to choose from all over the DC area, so you can be picky!! My wife works for the gov't, we checked the State dept Credit union, but we got a much better deal with Suntrust. Yes the credit union didnt charge some fees, but charged fees that Suntrust did not, and Suntrust gave us a better interest rate. I can't recall if this pertains to the credit union, but another reason we went with Suntrust, they allowed us to pay the property taxes with no fees, (as long as we put down a min of 20%) Other banks (credit unions) would not allow us to do this without charging a fee of some sorts!! Personally I rather be gaining abit of interest on that money. Good luck on the condo search! I know their is 1 available were we reside,and the prices seem to be going downward. If your in the Falls Church area, pm me and who knows, maybe I have some valuable info for u, lol. Cheers

These sellers are unbelievable. Running -- you were more than fair in your FIRST offer to them, let alone all the rest of the saga that followed. The fact that they didn't disclose the 50% (50%!!!) increase in association fees is a good indication that they would not be inclined to disclose other, perhaps less obvious, things that they should. I'm glad you walked. I'm sure that now it is really upsetting to you -- all the wasted time and effort and the emotional ups and downs ending in not getting the place you wanted -- but I would bet that you will ultimately find something you like as well or better, with reasonable sellers to deal with. Good luck to you. I'll bet these sellers will still have their condo on the market long after you find a great place for yourselves, and they will be kicking themselves for making some stupid decisions.

I think you're lucky - seems like the place is still overpriced and they're idiots.

Not to mention - that assessment is likely not going back down. I purchased a place and the assessment was supposed to go down, it never did and people 'got used to it' and it's not nearly double 5 years later.

Talked to our realtor today. Apparently, their agent refused to eat the $375, so that cost got shifted off to the sellers. They did agree to pay it, but there hasn't been any communication from them since we refused their proposed closing date. Oh well. The other bummer is that we had our eye on another property and it got taken off the market yesterday as someone put in an offer for it. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

About the assessment - to be fair to the sellers, they only found out about this at the beginning of January. Still, I think they could have mentioned something about it in the original listing. But pebbles, your assessment didn't go back down?? That scares me. Seems like so many of these condos have exorbitant fees, and you have to wonder sometimes - what is it really paying for? In the area we're looking to buy, we've seen condo fees as low as $145 and as high as $600, all of which basically paid for the same things - water, trash, insurance, etc. For the condo we made the offer on, there isn't a pool, common area, the building's in good shape, there aren't really any lawns to mow...

Speaking of lawns, DH and I nearly laughed our @sses off at one listing we went to see - the condo fee of $315 didn't pay for any utilities, but said (and quite proudly too, I might add) "fee covers lawn care and maintenance." Well, we spent a good 5-10 minutes looking around the building for anything resembling a lawn. Finally after some time had passed, we noticed a little planter with a patch of green peeping out - it was so small you could have covered it with a small bath towel.

airforceguy - thanks for the tip on suntrust. I looked on their website and they are actually offering the same rate we are getting with SDFCU but they are charging an additional 1% orig fee. Also, as you said, you need 20% down with them, which SDFCU doesn't require. We do love Falls Church though - we actually live near EFC metro now and love our neighborhood. Its just too pricey for us to actually afford anything here.

Ah well, back to the drawing board. Thank goodness we have a vacation coming up in March to decompress from all this nonsense!

OOps talkd to my wife,was a different credit union! Her credit union wanted to charge a fee to not hold the property taxes no matter what we put down. What you can do is get good faith estimates completed by various banks. I know the fees were less at suntrust than the credit union,but each case is different. I had a "buddy" who works in the mortage industry and he was yipping how he could beat anyone. Al sounded good onthe phone/email, that was until i received the good faith estimate!! Fees were higher, and he was buying down the interest rate, etc. As with most if it sounds too good to be true, prob is, lol.
We reside just off of Lee highway fiarly close to Gallows rd. Condos have come down a fair bit in our smal complex. April 2006 selling around 350,000, probably go for 320,000 now (2 bed/2bath) The 1 unit that is avail has been sitting for quite awhile. Belive they repainted everything and new carpet, and still sits. Best of luck