Some owners will help pay closing costs

Q. We just lost out on a house we really loved to another offer. We offered $2,000 above the asking price and asked for 4 percent concessions. The other people did not ask for concessions in their offer. We don't know how much they offered. Our Realtor told us they preferred the other offer because no concessions were asked for.

We asked for the concessions so the seller would help us with closing costs. We offered something over the asking price to hopefully offset that. We are very disappointed about the way things turned out, and I was wondering if you could give my husband and I any advice for future offers. Is it common for concessions to be "deal breakers?" We could really use them to help with closing costs, but we don't want to repeat this same scenario in the future, if possible. I know each situation is unique, but, in your opinion, are we better off not asking for the concessions?

A. The extra $2,000 you offered probably didn't come close to making up for the 4 percent of purchase price you asked the seller to pay toward your closing costs. So yours wasn't really a full-price offer.

Nobody can predict what's important to a particular seller. They might have preferred the other buyers' proposed closing date, or a higher purchase price. They might have run into owners who saw the buyers' children on the swings in the back yard and enjoyed the idea of that particular family living in their beloved family homestead. Until they've signed an acceptance, sellers are free to deal with any offer they choose. The only limitation is that they cannot base their decision on potential buyers' race, religion, handicap, children or other class protected by fair housing laws.

If you're short of cash and can't buy without the sellers paying some of your closing costs, you'll have to continue making offers on that basis. Some sellers do accept such offers, and some mortgage plans allow them.

Q. I currently have a driveway with pea gravel. Is it worth getting my driveway asphalted or concreted before I sell it?

A. I don't know where you live, price levels in your neighborhood, what kind of driveway your neighbors have, how the cost of paving compares with the probable sale price of your property, or buyers' expectations in your area.

Who does know all that is a local real estate broker. Look at lawn signs in the neighborhood, call a few brokerages and ask for opinions. You'll get better advice than I can give you from this distance.

Q. My boyfriend had to buy out his ex-wife quickly and got a high-interest mortgage to do it. We plan to sell both my house and his. I will profit about $40,000; his house needs some fixing up. Should we use my profit to fix up his house or have him sell "as is" to get out from the high payments? We will buy a new house as I have excellent credit.

A. I haven't seen the condition of your boyfriend's house, nor do I know its price level. That does sound like a great deal of fix-up. He needs opinions from several local brokers on how much it would be prudent to spend at this point, as compared with probable selling price.

One thing, though, it seems you're the one with the equity, you're the one with the house in good repair and you're the one with the good credit. I will caution you strongly, if you're going to invest money in someone else's property, to have written protection just in case.

What this would mean - a second mortgage on his house, whatever - I can't tell you. I'm not a lawyer. But I get mail every day from unmarried people whose finances are entangled with another's, and who write me after things change and they find themselves in trouble.

Your boyfriend, having just been through the trauma of divorce, should understand some caution on your part when it comes to risking your own money and credit. Protecting them could help both of you in the future. You need guidance from your own attorney at this important point in your life.

Q. I would like to buy my old house back (from when I was a kid) in about five years. I am going to save up and offer them more than what it is worth and also offer to set them up with a real estate agent to look for a new house. Do you think this is a reasonable goal?

A. Why not? It just might work. And if it doesn't, you'll be stuck with a nice bunch of cash.

• Edith Lank will personally respond to any questions sent to her at 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14620 (please include a stamped return envelope), or readers may e-mail her at ehlank@aol.com.

2008, Creators Syndicate Inc.