I didn't imply they made it up, I implied that they may have caused it. 5 years living there - no leak. Inspector - no leak. Buyer goes though on their own without anyone else and suddenly there is a leak. We agreed that it was leaking and fixed what was leaking. Now they say something else is leaking. When does it end?

I don't know what's usual and customary there - but here that would never fly.

They sound like first-time home owners.

This wasn't a new house and there was no guarantee things were perfect. They had the right to negotiate repairs - and that was done. The house is theirs. They own it now. Period. End of story.

They are homeowners now- they need to get hip on how to fix faucet leaks or call a plumber.

And if you go over to fix this, they will be calling you back for anything else they find. Don't do it.

The buyer has a resource after closing for repairs - the home warranty company. Even if there were no warranty, it isn't your responsibility in any form, shape or fashion to fix anything on their home after closing. They own the home now. You fulfilled your end of the contract and they agreed by completing the closing on the purchase. I agree with the above post that states they will continue to call you for repairs unless and until you say no. I don't agree that you should pay the bill. You already fixed it before you closed. Now the repairs and the repair bills belong to the new homeowner.

Contact your agent. Your agent needs to have a heart to heart with their agent about this request for repairs by you after closing so their agent can call them to let them know what the buyers/new homeowners responsibilities are after closing. Based on your post, your buyer is completely out of line.

Paying the money indictates acceptance. They had an opportunity to find the issues before closing and you fixed the issues they identified. Now, they need to step up to become responsible homeowners. Part of owning a house is learning how to maintain and repair it. If they are new to the area, share with them the name of any people who have done work on the house and any contact info for local tradesmen you recommend. Be sure to state that you can't guarantee results, but you are trying to give them a start on finding their own favorite service people. Then, let all future calls go to voicemail and reply or ignore as you choose.

Twice I have helped a homeowner with a problem after selling. First time was a foreclosure house which had been empty for a few years. The hot water tank sprung a leak the day after the buyer signed. We paid half the cost of the new tank and my partner, with the assistance of the buyer, connected the new tank. In that case, the sale was a contract sale without any agents involved. Second time was when we sold our home and we had warned the buyers about the issues with the vintage plumbing fixtures. They called looking for a source for a toilet part and I was able to tell them where the spare piece was left in the cupboard. We had also gone over to the house and showed them where the boiler feed valve was, where we stored the drain hose and other useful tips. My partner also helped a buyer with replacing glass in a window but in that case the buyer knew they had caused the issue but did not know how to do the repair.

Don’t answer their calls or texts. If you do, you’ll definitely be sorry.

Everything changed the second you closed. It’s their house now.

Refer them to their warranty. You should not even consider getting involved any further. Sometimes the old saw "no good deed goes unpunished" applies....don't let it in this case.

Your realtor needs to handle this. Refer all communication directly to him/her.

You went the extra mile before the closing. They sound like picky jerks. The deal is closed, your obligations are done, and they have a warranty. Your realtor got paid a lot of money, and it should be on him/her to deal with the new owners. Don't make the mistake of getting pulled back into this.

Agree with all others- do not respond to their texts or phone calls. I’d let your realtor know that this is going on and, through your realtor to theirs, communicate back the info for the home warranty.

It can be great when things go smoothly and some communication between buyers and sellers can occur. We were on good terms with our sellers so when a question came up about water shut off valves (always good knowledge to have, but I had forgotten to ask during our inspection!) I was able to email them and get a response, which I appreciated but would have understood if they had ignored it. That isn’t always possible though, and your buyers have guaranteed it can’t in this transaction.

Refer them to call the home warranty company and then block their number. You have no responsible for anything after the closing.

Just going to agree with everyone but else.
*All this communication should be handled by realtors if you had them.
*This is what the home warranty is for. That's who they call.
*absolutely do NOT go to their home to fix it. It is their home now.

Why do they even have your number?!
Please follow the sound advice given above-- do not involve yourself further.

Those buyers do not understand the point of an inspection. It isn't for you to issue a repair list to the Seller. It is for you to understand the condition of the home. The Seller is not obligated to deliver to you a perfect house and I wish they would understand this.

If you had a Realtor, all contact goes through the Realtor. They own the house now. It's on them.

Realtor/Warranty company. End it. Stop communicating directly. Get your realtor to stop this and give them Home Warranty contact info. Stop all direct communication. Forward any texts or emails to your agent. She/he should stop this asap. Good luck.

1. The home buyers should not have your number and if your Realtor or their Realtor or the mortgage company or attorneys involved with the sell and closing of this home gave it to them then they have broken the confidentiality protection clause and can all be reported to the board of realtors.

2. Once you close it is a DONE DEAL. When they signed the closing documents the home became THEIRS (and the banks). It is NO LONGER YOUR HOME. Therefore you no longer have anything to do with that home. This would include them finding a million dollars in the foundation. You would have no recourse for that money and they have no recourse for issues they accepted when they signed the closing documents........

3. Any issues are now negotiated with the home warranty company NOT YOU. Period!

I'm going to disagree with the previous poster in finding a million dollars. If you can lay the groundwork for a claim to it (such as your mother buried it for you), and that it was not intended to sell with the house, you might be able to get that back.

But otherwise, yes, you are done after closing, assuming you have done what you contractually agreed to do in the Purchase Agreement/subsequent closing documents.

I gave my number to a buyer once, because I'm a nice person and lived in the area anyway. The buyer never bothered me but the Agent called me later, saying that the washer wasn't working after they moved in. I told him it wasn't my issue, that it had worked to my knowledge when I owned the home and that it had been about 12 years old when I sold it. He attempted unsuccessfully to bully me a little, so I gave him the number of a repairman. Problem solved. He didn't have a leg to stand on and we both knew it.

Say goodnight Gracie. It's not your house.

You have paid for a home warranty. Tell them to use it and stop calling/texting you. You lived up to the contract. It is their house now. If they contact you ignore them or just keep repeating to them...use the home warranty, use the home warranty. In a calming voice...just like Flo and Jamie coming out of the corn field. hahaha

"Should I even go back over and try to fix the issue?"

Absolutely not. You're done.

So, first, if your instinct is that you should not go back into the house, then you absolutely shouldn't.

Next, were you sitting in my office asking me about the best possible outcome, I would tell you to wait it out and see what happens. Many conflicts between people disappear with time. Please note that you are not in my office so I am not telling you to do this.

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Having said that, I would fix it or offer some compensation for fixing it. Your dialogue at the top is pretty cagey, as you refrain from saying that you agreed to fix the leak and instead say that you agreed to replace the part that you and the realtors agreed was the problem...

You made a statement that the buyers reasonable construed as a promise to repair the leak, it still leaks, thus you didn't fix the leak. I think you should fix the leak because you said you would. This assumes there is not an attempt at fraud on the part of the buyers, and if you strongly suspect that then see above.

Furthermore, I don't agree that once you sell the house you are no longer responsible for promises you made for the purpose of selling the house. Statutes around home purchases are different in every state, but it seems odd that a buyer has to satisfy themselves that no fraudulent statements exist prior to the sell. I mean if I sell a house and claim the roof was replaced 1 year ago, and the buyers learn the roof was actually 25 years old am I off the hook, because it is their problem now? Obviously the answer to that is no. So exactly how is that different than my claiming something was repaired when it wasn't?

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Finally, if you find a million dollars in the walls of a house you bought, you probably do not get to keep it. A person must knowingly and willingly surrender property. If someone sells you something that they could have investigated the value and didn't, that is a windfall to you, but if the sale of one asset included other unknown assets, that is not a windfall to you. So if the previous owners had a legal right to the money you find in a house, but didn't know of its existence at the time of the sale, then you have to give it back. If they had no legal right to the money and there are no parties with legal rights then you would probably get to keep it.

bry911

I disagree with your assessment of being "cagey". The OP went beyond what was agreed to in writing. We don't know if the "leak" is even a thing. There was no leak when the OP left.

If there's disagreement as to what was to be repaired, what's in writing will supersede any verbal promise or construed verbal promise. That's why we do things in writing. I'm sure there's verbiage in the contract that states this.

This is a warranty issue -- It's not fraud, it's not intentional misrepresentation. This is a minor leak that may, or may not, have been previously discussed verbally.

This is such a minor issue that the new owners SHOULD be embarrassed they are bringing it up. My guess is that even the warranty company will shake their heads and say it's less than the deductible.

That suggests to me that they are first time owners, or have an ax to grind. In either case the OP should stay away.

The OP went beyond what was agreed to in writing. We don't know if the "leak" is even a thing. There was no leak when the OP left.

If there's disagreement as to what was to be repaired, what's in writing will supersede any verbal promise or construed verbal promise. That's why we do things in writing. I'm sure there's verbiage in the contract that states this.

Can you direct me to the point where the OP says this was verbal? I reread the post and don't see that. The OP says, "They came through to check out all of the repairs the day before closing. They found two things that they requested to be repaired, neither of which was on the inspection report." I assume that all of this is in writing. I can't imagine that in this day anyone is still using verbal communications for real estate contract modification or negotiation. However, if this was all verbal then I would change my opinion on what is required.

Remember writing need not be a signed contract, an email with a signature line will meet the statute of frauds requirement for written contract. even text messages will usually work to memorialize a contract if the terms of the agreement are fully discernible in a combination of memorialized forms.

_______________

As for not knowing if the leak is a thing...Well then ask for confirmation via video or picture. It seems a bit convenient to assume they are lying when confirmation would be so easy to determine.

I also don't know about it being above and beyond. I have bought a bunch of houses, probably too many, and were I to walk into a house the day before closing and found damage that wasn't there previously, I would ask for it to be repaired. If you then told me it was repaired when it wasn't, then I would expect you to repair it or pay for the repair when I do it.

Oh, please. This property is "closed". End of story.

Gosh guess my tongue in cheek comment about the million dollars in the foundation was taken as literal LOL! Tough crowd. Bottom line the home was closed on. Any existing issues with the property that were not handled prior to the new owner signing the paperwork are no longer yours to worry about!

Well, there we have it. From on high, at that. Guess I'l remove my posts now that I know my opinion is worth only an "Oh, please."

Oh, please!

Just to be clear, this claim is probably not covered under the terms of the home warranty. Most warranties are not going to cover a defect known at closing where attempted repairs were deficient.

When they ask you when you first noticed this problem, if you are honest it is probably not going to be covered.

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I know I am beating a dead horse here, but once again. Assuming the problem is legitimate, if you agreed to fix it, fix it. It is a matter of integrity for me.

bry911

What I can direct you to is where the OP said that this issue wasn't on the list of things present at inspection and agreed to be repaired (which goes to the issue of the contract). We know that this is not a material change that came up post-inspection (such as a tree limb hit the house after inspection but before closing). We know that this isn't fraud or material misrepresentation by the seller. We don't even know that the leak is one that the OP said he repaired.

There is no issue of lack of integrity on the part of the seller. If he did the repairs listed in the contract - that's what he's obligated to do. Period. Not one more dollar.

Wow! This is one of the more overheated discussions I've seen in these forums in a long time over a trivial problem. I'm not criticizing anyone in particular...just sitting back in the peanut gallery wondering when the dust is gonna settle on this ;-)

This was in the contract. The contract is for the property in its present condition with all agreed upon repairs, and even the OP believed that the damage was caused after the purchase agreement was signed. So it certainly was part of the contract as it didn't leak when the offer was made.

Some states have limits on when you can hold up a closing and when you can't. So it is possible that the OP wasn't obligated to agree to the repair at all...

However, the OP didn't argue the obligation, he agreed to repair and that agreement is itself a contract. An offer and acceptance for an exchange of consideration creating a mutual obligation. Let's look at that...

• Was there an offer to fix the leak? Yes.
• Was that offer accepted? Yes.
• Was there an exchange of consideration? Yes (the seller was relieved from any delay in closing and the buyer got a non-leaking sink).
• Was there mutual obligation? Yes. (the seller was obligated to fix the sink and the buyer was obligated to purchase the house on time).
• Did each party have capacity? Probably.

Because of the statute of frauds the contract must be in writing and effectively signed by the party who enforcement is sought against or demonstrate action by the parties sufficient to overcome the statute of frauds.

There are several states that have rules about repair agreements post sale, other states have nothing. I would need to know the OP's state to offer more specific information, but I can tell you certainly that my state says specifically, "Seller agrees to deliver the property to purchaser at settlement in its present physical condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, but with such repairs and improvements as the parties otherwise agree."

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So if it is your assertion that he could have said no as that was not in the original contract, I would agree that he could say no and they could fight over the original contract. But once the OP said yes, it did create an obligation. The enforceability of which will depend on state laws.

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We don't even know that the leak is one that the OP said he repaired.

Can we just agree that we are talking about the same leak? I believe the OP is smart enough to handle this situation on his own if it turns out to be a different leak.

BTW, we have not heard from the OP in over four days...