Real Estate Closing Today

njhowie

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We listed mom's Ft Lauderdale area condo for sale two months ago, and accepted an offer slightly below the listing price 5 days later. Terms were all cash, no contingencies, closing by July 1. Some minor logistic delays with HOA approvals extended the closing date a bit.

We feel very fortunate, seeing the market is getting toppy at this time. The sale price is 50% higher than they were going for one year ago, and 100% higher than two years ago. Again, feeling very fortunate, and mom is in a position where having the additional funds available is calming.
 
Congratulations. Its good to get out anywhere near the top. Mom doesn’t have to buy a new place though?
 
We listed mom's Ft Lauderdale area condo for sale two months ago, and accepted an offer slightly below the listing price 5 days later. Terms were all cash, no contingencies, closing by July 1. Some minor logistic delays with HOA approvals extended the closing date a bit.

We feel very fortunate, seeing the market is getting toppy at this time. The sale price is 50% higher than they were going for one year ago, and 100% higher than two years ago. Again, feeling very fortunate, and mom is in a position where having the additional funds available is calming.

That is great! Being involved with closing dates through the years I don't believe one ever was on the date that was scheduled.
 
Congratulations. Its good to get out anywhere near the top. Mom doesn’t have to buy a new place though?

No...not exactly. We moved her to NJ early this year after a hospitalization. Into assisted living for a couple months for rehab, now in a Life Plan Community where she is in their independent area. They also offer assisted living as well as nursing care if/when she needs it. She's on a rental plan, as opposed to buying in, so the condo money will be additional backstop for future expenses.
 
Great timing for your mom.
Best wishes for a continued healthy recovery.
 
Now is a great time to grab a no-strings cash offer, IMO (not that there is ever a bad time for that), even if the bid is a little low. As you say, the market is looking toppy, even out here in the wilds of Wisconsin. The fewer strings, the better.

We sold my dad's old farm a few years ago on similar terms. The buyer actually wanted to move the closing date up, but we needed time to clear some stuff out.

Best wishes for your mom.
 
Good timing for your Mom's sale. Sounds like you have her in a nice place that she can be closer to you and also have the facilities for future.
 
Follow-up - closing docs were signed electronically on Tuesday, funds were in bank account Wednesday morning. $300 was held back in escrow pending return of HOA id cards. No big deal, sent the ids yesterday, attorney will mail check next week after he receives them.

Lastly, early last month, I flew down to FL to immediately get in mom's car and drive it back to NJ. Carvana is coming to pick it up on Monday. 2014 Honda Civic with 18,000 miles on it. KBB midpoint is $16,500, which is exactly what Carvana is paying. Mom paid $19,190 for it. Also got quotes for KBB instant cash offer through local dealerships and their range was about the same. We went with Carvana because it's simpler and more straightforward - don't have to drive the car or take mom anywhere (and inconvenience someone else to come along to give us a ride back home), they come to us. I really wanted to keep the car as it is in great shape and drives wonderfully. It's rated at 30 mpg city and 39 highway - the dashboard still reads 43 mpg for the 1200 miles I put on it driving back from FL. Unfortunately, we really don't need a new car at this time and don't want to have it sitting around not being used waiting for when we do need a new car. DW and I discussed it and decided it's best to just sell it for the amount of money they're offering at this time.

In any case, mom's major assets are sold and we can move on.
 
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Congrats on the car and condo. It must feel great getting these things dealt with and knowing mom is closer and in a good place.
 
Following, because my mom sounds like she needs something very similar, and we're gonna have to take away her car soon as well.
 
Congrats on the car and condo. It must feel great getting these things dealt with and knowing mom is closer and in a good place.

Thanks. That really is the bottom line. Me and sis are in NJ. It's been difficult with mom living alone in FL. The past two years made it clear that mom could no longer be on her own. Unfortunately it took a near-death experience and hospitalization to make her realize it and finally relent to relocating.
 
My aunt inherited her mother's 23rd floor penthouse apartment at 4400 N. Atlantic in Ft. Lauderdale. It was one of those places with Mercedes and Rolls Royces in the parking garage.

My cousin tried to move down there, but the HOA wouldn't let her stay permanently. At the time she was maybe 30 years old (old maid), and anything but a party animal.

Congratulations on having such a smooth sale transaction and getting thru the HOA approvals. It's tough enough to deal with losing family members much less having to deal with HOA's.
 
For anyone considering selling a car, I highly recommend Carvana for one of the places you request a quote. I was extremely impressed with the entire process. They gave a fair offer, had excellent communication all along, made clear how things worked, allowed online scheduling of when they'd come within a 3 hour window, and then 24 hours in advance gave the exact time they'd be coming.

I was waiting at home for them to come, and expected the Carvana truck like you see in the commercials. Instead, I received a text that the rep had arrived. I go outside and he's already doing his visual inspection. Someone simply dropped him off - didn't even hear them come up the driveway. By the time I get outside he's already finished the outside visual inspection, said it's fine. I give him the keys, he gets in, quickly looks around at the interior, starts the car, confirms mileage is what I said, opens/closes all the windows, turns it off, and says he's done, let's sign the paperwork. I bring him inside so mom doesn't have to get up and come out with the walker. He verified her drivers license matches the name on the title, has her sign a few documents explaining each one and the purpose. He then hands mom her check for the agreed offer price. He says mobile deposit won't work for a day, but I confirm we can take it to the bank and deposit immediately. We shake hands, I thank him, he drives off in the car. Turns out the check is drawn on Wells Fargo, where mom's bank account is so no problems whatsoever.

What I liked is that they gave their offer, it was in line with the market and there was no negotiating, no nitpicking, everything was straightforward and they came to us. As I mentioned, I did also do the KBB instant cash offer, and almost immediately the local dealerships are calling and texting to set up an appointment to bring the car in for inspection and sell to them.

Anyhow, Carvana has gained a fan in me.
 
For anyone considering selling a car, I highly recommend Carvana for one of the places you request a quote.

I agree. I've sold cars to both Carmax and Carvana. Both were excellent experiences. I certainly could have made a bit more selling them privately, but the difference just wasn't worth the hassle.
 
For anyone considering selling a car, I highly recommend Carvana for one of the places you request a quote. I was extremely impressed with the entire process. They gave a fair offer, had excellent communication all along, made clear how things worked, allowed online scheduling of when they'd come within a 3 hour window, and then 24 hours in advance gave the exact time they'd be coming.

I was waiting at home for them to come, and expected the Carvana truck like you see in the commercials. Instead, I received a text that the rep had arrived. I go outside and he's already doing his visual inspection. Someone simply dropped him off - didn't even hear them come up the driveway. By the time I get outside he's already finished the outside visual inspection, said it's fine. I give him the keys, he gets in, quickly looks around at the interior, starts the car, confirms mileage is what I said, opens/closes all the windows, turns it off, and says he's done, let's sign the paperwork. I bring him inside so mom doesn't have to get up and come out with the walker. He verified her drivers license matches the name on the title, has her sign a few documents explaining each one and the purpose. He then hands mom her check for the agreed offer price. He says mobile deposit won't work for a day, but I confirm we can take it to the bank and deposit immediately. We shake hands, I thank him, he drives off in the car. Turns out the check is drawn on Wells Fargo, where mom's bank account is so no problems whatsoever.

What I liked is that they gave their offer, it was in line with the market and there was no negotiating, no nitpicking, everything was straightforward and they came to us. As I mentioned, I did also do the KBB instant cash offer, and almost immediately the local dealerships are calling and texting to set up an appointment to bring the car in for inspection and sell to them.

Anyhow, Carvana has gained a fan in me.
We sold a 2019 Subaru Outback thru Carvana. Easiest auto transaction I ever did and they gave us a very good offer. Same experience as you. Because it was fairly new at the time and the price was over $22,000 I did not want to deal with craigslist types hemming and hawing about offers and worrying about loans etc, Did not want to go thru all the gyrations that auto dealers put you thru only to low ball you. Drove the car for 10 months and put 8000 miles on it and sold it for only $2000 less than paid for it so was pretty happy with that, Of course if I had waited to this year to sell it probably would have made 5 or 6 thousand over what I purchase it for. Who knew.:facepalm:
 
Timely thread. MIL is 91 and has a 2007 subaru Legacy. 21k miles. Classic Little Old Lady car. Based on this thread I tried Carvana & they said $3k. With a note that all cars are not for them. Which I'm guessing is the case here. I found some listings at $10/11 & 13k. The neighbor boy who helps her a lot wants to buy it but $10-13k is out of his price range.

She has to get late FIL off the title before she can sell it. we have an appointment in a couple weeks. I hate to go the Craigslist route but may have to. She is dropping the insurance so a car selling service may be the best way
 
Timely thread. MIL is 91 and has a 2007 subaru Legacy. 21k miles. Classic Little Old Lady car. Based on this thread I tried Carvana & they said $3k. With a note that all cars are not for them. Which I'm guessing is the case here. I found some listings at $10/11 & 13k. The neighbor boy who helps her a lot wants to buy it but $10-13k is out of his price range.

She has to get late FIL off the title before she can sell it. we have an appointment in a couple weeks. I hate to go the Craigslist route but may have to. She is dropping the insurance so a car selling service may be the best way

I learned that the low mileage is what gets you the high offer - $3k is a joke with only 21,000 assuming everything is in working order.

Be careful with dropping the insurance before selling the car. Some states (mine in particular) require insurance on every car, even if unused and it sits in your driveway. Best to review your state requirements before dropping it - insurance company will notify state DMV and if they do not see replacement coverage or that vehicle was sold/transferred they will follow up with you (I had this happen to me about 15 years ago) when changing insurance companies.
 
I found Carvana to offer the best deal for me but others on here have found Carmax or others to pay higher so be sure to check them all.
Is there a way to see if the cars in these high priced listings are actually selling at these prices, I kinda doubt that they are. That seems way out of line even for the craziness that's been happening in the car market.
Maybe consider coming down to a more realistic price and working a deal with the neighbor kid that helps her a lot.
 
Maybe consider coming down to a more realistic price and working a deal with the neighbor kid that helps her a lot.

I have tried to (gently) talk to her about giving him a "good" deal. So far she's not having it. CarMax was $6k but they wanted to look at it. I did an instant quote from BlueBook & it was $3k. And then I had several dealers contacting me to "bring it in".
 
yeah no matter what the mileage or condition, it's a 15 yo car, most of them don't even want to touch it. Maybe stop "finding" the good quotes for her.
 
Mom passed away

Over the past year we moved mom from FL to NJ, got her into a really great life plan community, sold the FL condo, sold her car, got all of her finances and investments in order ... and then the unexpected happened.

It's a very long story, which I had typed in, but then decided nobody would want to read it all. So I'll give the quick synopsis.

Mom diagnosed with fast-moving Leukemia on Jan 27.
Doctors told us nothing they could do. Any potential regimen would be too aggressive for her and have very low probability of success.
Took mom home from the hospital on Jan 31 to make her comfortable.
Me and sis were with mom and caring for her 24x7 for the next 3 weeks.
Mom passed away with me and sis at her side on Feb 22.
Flew mom back to FL this past Friday (last wishes)
Had funeral on Monday - me, sis, DW, and six of mom's close friends living in FL
 
So sorry NJ. Losing a parent is rough. We lived through deaths of all four, hers and mine. Sad days.
 
My sympathies, njhowie. It's never easy.

Like Cocheesehead, Frank and I have each lost both parents. We often discuss our memories of them with each other.
 
Ugh, So sorry for your loss.

What’s the old saying, Man plans and God laughs. Well, no one is laughing now and maybe you and your siblings can take some comfort in knowing you did everything you possibly could for your mother.
 
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