Posted by John Merchant on December 02, 2005 at 19:13:57:
As I’ve said lots of times, a RE deal is open for re-negotiation, or re-re-negotiation until the deed & money are exchanged.
Just because A & B have written agreement is no sign that they will both perform as agreed…lots of room for arguments over exact meaning of agreement, etc and there can be quibbling (sp?) and games played until it’s actually finalized.
Heck, I’ve known some very smart people who specialize in last minute haggling and it’s made them lots of money…not friends, necessarily, but they’d rather have the money.
We were set to purchase a home. Neither broker sent copies of contract to either attorney before the attorney approval process date (our broker thought it had been sent but he never followed up to confirm receipt). We did not know this and held inspections on said property (including pumping a septic) with both brokers present.
We decided next day to get out of sale of house and discovered at that time neither attorney had even seen a contract on said property. Our attorney extended the attorney approval date and denied the contract. Now our broker has been informed that seller is refusing to sign a release allowing us out of contract and we have been unable to reach our attorney. Do we have recourse or are we stuck with this property? Is it a valid contract if neither attorney ever saw a proposed contract until after the attorney approval period had passed?
Re: Was this ever a valid contract? - Posted by Sailor
Posted by Sailor on November 12, 2005 at 18:57:44:
It concerns me that you state “We decided next day to get out of sale of house. . . .” Was there something wrong w/the property? Or were there just bumps on the road to closing? If the former, you may have valid grounds, but if the latter, remember it is a rare escrow that closes easily. Yes, it would be nice if everyone did the things they are supposed to do, but honestly, it just doesn’t always happen. Emotions run very high @ these times (I can verify that, as I have spend most of 2005 in escrow, as many as 4 @ once). The good news is that having a conniption fit over (important) details can also result in a slight re-negotiation prior to closing. Personally, if what you are stating are the complete facts (even knowing that can’t be so), @ this point if I still thought it was a solid purchase, I’d agree to close on the condition that the seller pick up some of the closing costs. The brokers could agree to do this, just to make the deal happen, if the seller won’t compromise. You evidently considered this deal to be good enough to pay for inspections, so it is probably still worth pursuing. The key to relative sanity during escrow is to not sweat the small stuff, but to really track the things that are truly important. Good luck!
Re: Was this ever a valid contract? - Posted by John Merchant
Posted by John Merchant on November 12, 2005 at 14:52:40:
Prospective, or even contracted, buyer rarely HAS to finish buying, and can normally walk away with complete impunity & immunity from lawsuit because it’s cheaper and easier for seller to find new buyer than sue old balky buyer.
If you have earnest money in escrow, you will probably lose that but you most likely won’t be forced to complete purchase.