At COE all hell broke loose...Please HELP!!! (Howe: for sale, real estate)

[missinnocuous]

We were coming up to the close of escrow on our first home and the septic had not been inspected. They finally performed an inspection and the septic failed; the seller installed a new septic system. They contracted with a local company who, per contract, is not responsible for damage to sprinkler lines. However, the real estate agent, in a hurry because he waited 17 days to start the septic repair in the first place, decided to just bury it even though he knew the lines were damaged. (I know that he knew because after we complained about it the day we closed when the sprinkler timer went on and a guyser appeared in the yard, he said that he already had called somebody yesterday to come have a look at the sprinklers and they would be there today or tomorrow.) He has promised my agent and her broker several times that he would send somebody over to look at the sprinklers however this has not happened. He is beginning to lie as he said he sent someone over and I told him to go away because it's now my property. (In reality it was a man who had been mowing the lawn while the house was for sale and all that man did was try to get me to pay him a hundred and $145 a month to mow my lawn. Nothing about the sprinklers was said.) A couple of other interesting facts about this real estate agent: he has said he would give the keys to the sheds, the blueprints to a structure on the property, the key to the back glass sliding door, as well as the garage door openers, there are 6 sprinkler lines on timers-after the septic was buried, 3 of the wires were cut. Because of the sprinkler problem he is withholding all of these things. It is kind of hard to move into a new house without being able to access the two large sheds. I am at the point where I'm so frustrated and I feel bad for the seller who does not even know any of these problems are going on. She is now open to the liability of legal recourse, as I am thinking about going to small claims court. This agent is so unethical to do that to his client- it wouldn't take more than $500 to $800 to fix the entire sprinklers. Now our front lawn which was green when we signed the contract is brown. This agent has single handedly turned the American dream into a living nightmare for me and my husband. Each night we argue about who is going to water the front lawn. Any suggestions for me? If I have left out any pertinent information just let me know and I will add it. Thank you in advance for all of your help. God bless.

[mikeyyc]

I hear lots of "said". What do you have in writing? Why isn't your Realtor/Lawyer dealing with this? That's why you pay them.

[PedroMartinez]

What does your realtor say?

[marksmu]

Fix your sprinklers yourself, get a couple bids, then sue the agent in small claims court and provide a reciept for the completed work.

People get all worked up...quit bickering bath and forth and just do something....you need the lines fixed regardless of who pays for it....fix it, then sue for payment. Then you and your husband can stop bickering about who waters the yard.

[pilotpair]

What marksmu said. Plus did you contact the agent's broker (not yours)? S/he may or may not know what a loose cannon the realtor is but if not, s/he may try to resolve the situation amicably rather than have a complaint filed with the real estate board.

[diggity101]

$500 to $800

how much is it going to cost to re-sod your lawn because you were too stubborn to fix the sprinkler system?

[missinnocuous]

@mikeyyc: Realtor and her broker has been hung up on and verbally berated in contacting both the agent and his broker. I just can't wait on then to do something. I feel like I need to take action.

@marksmu: Good call. We have been getting bids this week. I think we might just do the work ourselves this weekend.

@pilotpair: I guess I was under the impression I couldn't contact the opposing broker. Can I? I will do that today, right now actually. Thank you.

[missinnocuous]

Originally Posted by diggity101

how much is it going to cost to re-sod your lawn because you were too stubborn to fix the sprinkler system?

Not too stubborn. We've scrimped and saved for 4 years so we can move into our dream home, and we don't have much money left. Upon moving in we had to fence the entire yard which cost $3,000 and that was a more of a priority than the lawn seeing as we have two dogs and two children. Plus we keep getting told that it's going to be fixed so we keep believing that it might actually be resolved.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by marksmu

then sue

Isn't advertising against the site TOS?

I kid, I kid.

[cheryjohns]

Yes, you can contact the other broker.

Why was the seller's realtor in charge of repairs? That's the seller's responsibility.

Do your repairs, keep the receipts, and tell them you are going to court. The seller can go after their own broker for reimbursement (but I still can't figure out why their realtor was in charge of repairs in the first place).