So many of you may already know we are in the process of selling a house and buying a new one. The issue is carpet. The home we are buying has no carpet, vinyl or anything just plywood subfloor. The seller has agreed to pay up to $5500 to fix this problem. We want to change the flooring type a little bit. Completly understandable to want vinyl floors in a den that we will use for crafts/sewing. We have young children we want laminate (pergo) floors in the dining room. With those changes the latest bid came in at $5630. So they are now asking us to pay the extra $130 (non refundable) to get the flooring we want in the house.
We still have to have our current house appraise and close, the new house we need to have our appraisal and financing go through.
Yet they are wanting us to decide now because it is more then likely that the flooring will need to be in before closing (July 31st), meaning the materials need to be ordered and installed before closing.
What would you do? Pay it and take a gamble that you would be out $130 if the financing fell through. Work at finding a different contractor who can stay in budget and risk the job not being done in time. Find out if there are other options.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006 &

Organizer of the Coupon Clippers of Tacoma

Are you really concerned your house won't appraise? Are you really concerned the house you are buying won't appraise or that your financing will fall through?

Do you need to move directly into your new house from the old one, or will you be staying somewhere else in the interim?

Will potentially losing the $130 cause a financial hardship?

We're also in the process of buying and selling right now so I can understand your concern. I'd probably pay the $130 and take the risk especially if you need to move directly into the house from your old one. I'd think you would definitely want to avoid having to move into the house before the floors are finished since that would just make whole process more difficult.

However, if you have real concerns that something might fall through (appraisal or financing) or if you have somewhere else to live between the time that you close on your house and the house you are buying, then it might be worth it to explore some other options.

Hmmm...was that helpful at all?

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Stephanie
Mom to: Caleb (8/03), Ian (9/05), & Lucas (11/08)

Difficult question but yes, in this case I would pay the extra $130 and hope for the best.

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Mom to dd (age 9) and ds (age 11)
blogging daily about purpose and personal identity

I would take into consideration , how likely it is that ,the appraisel and financing won't go through?

What about telling the guy- you want him to do it for $130 cheaper?
I bet they would or try and get someone to do it at your price- tell them what you want and the $ you have to spend. The seller will need to do the floors whether you buy the home or someone else! THey should pay and not you IMO.
Good luck

Since 50% of deals fall through before closing you have a right to be cautious. However, since it's only $130 I would just pay it and hope for the best. Worse case scenario that is all you lost, best case it's ready and waiting for you on moving day. I would ask the contractor to accept the budgeted amount though, chances are they will.

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

how many bids do you have for the work? I would have several bids and then negotiate. If this is the best deal you can get, I would gamble and pay the $.

since its under a couple hundred dollars I would gamble and do it. if it was more than that I don't know that I would. I would be finding a way for them to do it for less first.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

I would pay it, but I really think that the seller should just go ahead and pay the whole bill.

I would pay it if I had too, but I would try to get the seller to pay the difference since it is such a small amount. They can negotiate with the contractor to have them do it for the amount that they have. Most bids have some negotiating room in them and $130 is not a lot on a job that is over $5,000. Also, not having the flooring done can affect their appraisal. That makes those rooms unfinished.

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