I am attempting to buy an old house in the city and have signed the contract + handed over the earnest money. Then the realtor unexpectedly performed a survey and it was discovered that there were problems with the border.
The difference in area wasn’t large (<1m^2 in total), but I discovered that “my” wall was built mostly on the neighbor’s land. The property has no other walls and the ownership of the wall is based 100% on the elderly neighbor’s memory (the original owner is deceased and the wall isn’t in any building plan). The realtor quickly got the neighbors to sign an agreement not to pursue this matter—which is a positive sign. But I learned from the the judicial scrivener that this agreement was void for all future owners.
So I asked for the agreement to be notarized to make the agreement more legally sound. Fwiw I contacted an acquaintance with a license in real estate in Japan and notarizing the document was his suggestion. Today the realtor called us into the office and told us that they had already made the agreement with the neighbors (without our input) and that getting it notarized would cause trouble. Asking for it would be disrespectful.
I am mainly concerned with this wall, and I don’t want to have to tear it down unexpectedly and at my expense. To be honest I am also deeply annoyed at the realtor for not admitting their incompetence and also for trying to passive aggressively shove this agreement down my throat.
So now I am deciding whether to: (1) accept the current reality and gamble on the future owners, (2) insist the agreement be notarized and risk being the asshole or they refuse, (3) ask for a generous reduction in the price of the property because these flaws were not disclosed in the contract or (4) walk away.
So my question(s): Is getting this agreement notarized such an aggressive act? In other words, suppose a potential new neighbor asked for something you already agreed to be notarized as well—would you be offended and tell them to f-off? And if I don’t get the agreement notarized, would it be reasonable to ask for a discount for difference in land + lower value due to the border dispute?
Fwiw the contract also has errors in the size of the house (it is 15% larger than disclosed). The calculation of property taxes was wrong by ~30%. And it has a water well that was not disclosed which apparently I have to pay to get blessed by a Shinto priest or doom my ancestors. There are probably a lot more flaws the realtor either hasn’t realized or is failing to disclose. I apologize for the lengthy post.
Update: I suspect the owner was getting annoyed with this realtor so they brought in a more senior colleague. They made a lot of concessions but not on the notarization. In the end it was enough for us to move forward. Thanks for all of the advice.
by edweirdmuybridge