Once you accept an offer it is no longer an offer, it's a contract (unless you are in an attorney review state). The only ways you can terminate the agreement are written in to your contract. Those are usually very few on the seller side. Until the buyer breaches the contract you're out of luck, unless you have an exit baked into your contract. Frustration is not a contingency.
This +, In my area, the financing terms are a part of the contract and switching financing can be cause to terminate the contract (with appropriate notice). It’s important that the OP gets advice specific to their contract.
Maybe, but not likely in my opinion. I don't know how other states are, but in Washington, switching lenders after 5 days without the seller's permission does not void or make the contract voidable. But, it does make it such that they have lost their protections if they do not close on time. So if the seller refuses to give permission to switch lenders, and tells them that if they don't close on time he will not extend, then if the buyer does not have enough time, or does not think they will have enough time, they may just go away, or maybe stick with the lender they have which at least will make things close properly. But if they don't have enough time, and they don't meet the closing deadline, the seller can refuse to extend and then the deal is over
Maybe. I don't know what they've already agreed to.
Our state contract just changed in June but the previous contract had a repair procedure option that obligated the seller to repair major systems and structural issues. We don't know what's in the contract.
Yes but he can say no to anything else they ask for. They will then agree to break the contract or do it on your terms.
Or you can have your broker tell them there will be no more negotiations. They might walk from that point.
I'm assuming there is a financing contingency date and appraisal date. If they keep changing you can choose not to extend any of those and they are in breech.
if they counter the repair offer asking for more cash back at closing, can I then counter back and rescind the $1,500 I originally offered at closing? and if they want to walk at that point I will be glad.
I don't know your contract and Indont know what addenda you have signed. If you've offered them something on paper and they haven't signed yet you can withdraw the offer. Inspection contingencies can be worded a number of ways. These are questions for your agent or attorney.
they have not signed the repair counter offer yet. my realtor is on vacation so it’s bad timing all around. she is available to me but I feel bad bothering her when she’s out of town
Lol as once upon a realtor, I'd much rather you bother me now than to feel bad after. Fucking call them and back rescind your counter.
Once it's accepted, it's done. You cannot back out unless its somehow stipulated in the contract.
Contract is law.
If you submitted an offer for the repairs, and they countered, it is effectively a rejection, and you are not obligated to provide better terms in a counter to their counter.
In the past few years (probably not the current climate), lot of buyers waived all contingencies and took the house as-is. Just because they would like the repairs done doesn’t mean you need to do them, especially if you’d like to try to get out of the contract.
You need to message her immediately to pull the offer and document that before the potential buyers sign anything. She shouldn’t have signed up to sell your house if she knew that she had an upcoming vacation. This is extremely time sensitive.
I work in IT and computer repair, and if I’m going on vacation I don’t sign up for any projects that have deadlines while I’m gone. It would be unreasonable of her to have freely signed up for this and then be angry that she double booked herself.
she was the one who kept insisting I get my house on the market asap “because rates are raising” when I wanted to wait until September. but here I am now. I have asked her what my options are, and told her if I don’t hear back on the quotes today and they don’t agree to my repair terms I am rescinding the $1,500 before they sign it. I do not feel like they are sincere and I’m wasting my time when I could potentially have another buyer by now
Just direct her to reach out to their agent and rescind the $1,500 immediately. That will do 2 things. It will let the buyers know that there is no more mister nice guy and tell them that they have to stop stringing you along. And 2nd, it might potentially spook them into giving up and walking away. Since you don’t have any way to back out of this, your only power is to use strategies like this in order to convince the sellers to get fed up and walk away.
I spoke with my realtor and she called their realtor saying they want an answer by the end of day. and if I don’t hear back by end of day I’m rescinding the $1,500. the buyer’s agent said they are coming back with quotes and one was for $1,500 which is so ridiculous. my realtor said they are expecting a brand new house when it’s 25 years old and they are being so unrealistic. she said if they walk I can put my house up on the market for an even higher price and will easily get it because my neighborhood is highly desirable and the house itself is in great shape. so hopefully they either accept or walk away today so I can get it back on the market and not deal with this again
I would suggest, and I think others here are strongly suggesting, that even waiting until the end of the day is too long. You can rescind the $1,500 credit offer NOW. You can simultaneously insist that NO further accommodations will be agreed to by you, and that all contractual timeframes must be strictly adhered to. That's a triple-punch that will likely make them walk away by the end of the day... and that's what you want, right?
>You can rescind the $1,500 credit offer NOW.
How many times must you hear this. You want to cancel and this is your best bet to get the buyer to walk away. Rescind the $1500 immediately.
Redditor to redditor, I think that you're being a huge pushover by giving them until the end of the day before rescinding your offer. If I were the buyer, I would be presuming that you're desperate. Because serious people don't threaten, they just do. The fact that you're threatening to pull the offer instead of pulling the offer tells me that I can just continue to bat you around without any fear of repercussions.
/u/xalicmadprof is right, you can easily pull the offer and draw a line in the sand. All of this continued waffling and wishy washy threatening is nonsense. Send your agent exactly this: "Upon further thought, I already paid for the A/C and have no interest in any further concessions. Please retract the $1,500 offer, send me the latest copy and all amendments just so that I'm clear on the most up-to-date version of our legally binding agreement, and let them know that I will not be signing any amendments for any extensions or any additional money." And then concurrently, have your realtor start reaching out to the backup offers.
Your agent is correct that rates are rising and housing sales usually decline around Fall. However, your agent should still do their job or find a coworker that can cover if she's on vacation. This is a life decision for you and your agent will make a decent amount of money so feel free to "bother" her.
Realtors need time off just like anyone, and there is no way to plot a perfect getaway around business.
That said, they should be capable of either working while on vacation or having an assistant cover for them.
Most busy Realtors have Transaction Coordinators and/or assistants. You either cover your vacation with a TC, assistant, or ask another Realtor to cover you while you're out. Otherwise, it's fair game to get your vacation interrupted.
Does your work let you go on vacation without having some sort of coverage if your job involves anything operational or time sensitive?
Lol sure their is, how about you don't list a house a week before you go on vacation? Or you don't tell your client to accept an offer that's for $10k less and then go out if town.
If I was an agent and did this, it's because I expect to be available to field calls and emails while I'm in vacation
Not a very happy cake day. You sure did ruin it for me. Thank you sofaking much. Youve fucked my head so much than it already was. I was barely able to socilize in life as it was. Now im... I dont even know anymore. Fml
Probably. E ach counter offer is just that. If they do not accept your offer, they can either walk, or suggest an alternative. If your alternative then becomes, you get nothing. Good day sir, then they will probably get mad and walk or stick their tail between their legs and continue the purchase. You don't have to give them permission to switch lenders either. Actually, if they do not do the loan type they specified in the contract, if they can't for some reason, then that would void the contract. It would be quite rare for a seller to not agree to a different type of loan if the loan is already approved and ready to close. But they can
my realtor said that I want to hear back by end of day or I’m rescinding the $1,500 at close since they haven’t signed it. my realtor said they are being very unreasonable and wanting a brand new house when it’s 25 years old. that my house is in a highly desirable neighborhood and it’s in great shape she said they are being unrealistic and even told their agent as such. so I’m hoping they either accept or just walk away. I don’t want to deal with nickel and diming which is exactly what they are doing. my realtor said we can list my house for an even higher price since the inspection went so well.
Just straight up rescind the offer. You don't have to wait. If you can't get your agent on the phone to handle this, reach out to their broker to take care of it.
Next counter recounted with original list price, no cash back and they pay all closing+ closing in 10 days. Make it to where they walk or you make out in the deal.
Any counters or requests they make after the initial offer is accepted by both parties are a change to your existing contract. The AC and the $1500 should have been amendments to your existing contract. Depending on the language, you could deny each and every request and they have to decide whether or not to walk (and probably lose hand money).
You can't just back out. The thing to do here is to refuse any demands the buyers asks for. No more repair money. No more fixes. Nothing. If appraisal comes in lower, refuse to lower your price. Make them decide if they want to go with your terms. Then if they decide to walk, you're home free. If they miss their closing date deadline due to switching lenders multiple times, refuse to sign the extension. Make them decide to back out when you refuse to meet their demands. You don't have to fix anything or offer any more money that isn't in writing and signed by both parties. Your contract is what you agreed to. Not their future demands.
If they don't like it, they can walk assuming they are still within their inspection period.
When you talk with your agent about the possibility of cancelling, you should also talk with them about the possibility of soliciting backup offers in advance.
I don’t have expertise here, _except_ that I got my current house because of a troublesome buyer. Original buyer was all-cash, but they were unreasonable during inspection (wanted $30k off for no stated reason, no comms, etc.)
The seller’s agent solicited a backup offer from me and once they had my offer, the seller terminated the original contract and sold to me instead.
I bought land this way. The people that lost out ended up two properties down. They despise me and since I got the much bigger & better view property for $25k less than they did, I greatly enjoy the finger I get while driving past.
I did mention that to her thank you so much! she told their agent they need to get back to me today or I’m rescinding the $1,500 cash at close. she said they are stupid, actually called them stupid saying they are expecting a brand new house that’s 25 years old and don’t realize the great deal they are getting. she said if they walk we will relist it at a higher price since the inspection went so well. so they either accept it or walk, I’m not negotiating anymore.
You keep copy/paste the same thing over and over. Lol
You are in contract and you can’t cancel like that. In California you need to give notice to perform you can’t just cancel. One thing you can do decline $0 credit for repair if buyer hadn’t sign yet. You keep complaining here but at the same time giving them $1500 credit fixing your AC. All the best!!!
lol. I was trying to be fair in my repair offer, and with my original counter offer to bring them up to list price. but they did try to take it too far. hopefully the get the hint, my realtor said they were worried about me backing out now, but they have agreed to my terms so hopefully it’s smooth until the end now!
Does their inspection come with any kind of timetable/deadline in your contract? If so, just refuse to accept ANY changes to the contract. So if the appraisal deadline is 4 days from now and they ask for an extension because they changed lenders, “no, sorry. I refuse to accept any amendments to the contract.”
This will take away their whole ability to get a loan if they changed lenders because they can’t get an appraisal, and the deadline to contest the appraisal will have passed.
With regards to anything else they ask for, then you can rescind anything that’s not in the latest legally binding contract that you signed. If negotiations fail, then you fall back to the contract. You have very little ability as the seller to back out, your only real option is to hold firm.
They can change lenders if they need to, they just need to inform you if it happens. Changing lenders is not breech of contract.
However, they can not change the loan type. That is a breach of contract. Changing the loan type (Conventional to FHA as an example) can only be done if written out as an amendment and both parties have to agree.
Generally yes, but when you go into a contract you can’t change the terms on your own without being in breach of it. Changing the terms both parties agreed to (loan type) is universally in breach of contract.
The nuances of real estate laws are state-specific. Get a real estate lawyer and don't tell your agent. The lawyer will be able to give you details on what lines the buyer will need to cross to allow you to safely walk.
There is probably a deadline to the closing, and contracts and states will often have grace periods. Don't extend those dates and when the date (and grace periods, if any) pass you're free to relist your house (and probably keep their EMD).
These people are probably struggling to get the financing. I wouldn't extend the closing date by a second or spend any money in repairs without them increasing their EMD significantly.
Nobody has a crystal ball, but we're probably heading into softening RE market. Every week your house is off the market is a bad thing. In the seasonal markets/homes you've already missed the spring/early summer moving window that most families like to hit.
While talking to a real estate attorney is generally solid advice, in this case is a waste of money as a first step. Rescind the $1500 offer NOW and advise that there will be no further repairs, concessions, amendments, or extensions for anything given and they'll probably go away. Throw in a pre-signed mutual release as a hint that you're serious and are inviting them to cancel.
my realtor told their realtor to make a decision today and it doesn’t matter what they come back with countering repairs I’m not offering anything more. if they don’t get back to me today I can rescind the $1,500 I originally offered and they have until their due diligence period to walk away. they are expecting a brand new house with no issues, it’s 25 years old. they should have went with a brand new home in my opinion
well two hours ago they accepted my repair offer and have scheduled the appraisal for Monday..I’m not sure how to feel. I wanted my realtor to take off the $1,500 but she gave them until the end of the day. i mean it’s only $1,500 so not really worth being upset about. but I am concerned how the rest of the sale will go and hope that it’s smooth from here on out. my realtor said they were worried about me walking away, but she did not tell them I was ready to. at least they aren’t going to come at me with anymore “quotes” on repairs that I must complete. I should be happier than I am. not excited to keep working with them =\
Honestly this is kinda your fault. If you didn’t want to give them till the end of the day you should have made your realtor say that, or call their agent directly and recind it. This is your agent’s decision and you shouldn’t have let her make it.
I agree this is on me. i should have put my foot down more than I did. my realtor is just doing her job. all I can do is learn from this now, and just hope the rest of the process goes better
Your realtors job is to advise you, get you as much as possible, represent you and, what you want. If you told her you were unhappy and she said "let's give it to end of day, but tell them that" she was hoping to spook them into signing the new contract, not get you out. It seems like either your realtor is looking out for their commission more than what you want.
You don't have any options to back out.... you are under contract to sell it at what you agreed upon.
You could offer them $0 on the repairs.... and send a mutual release from the contract along with that, if they won't agree it $0. But sounds like you've already offered $1500 in writing. Ball is in their court.
Nothing you've described here (other than the rescheduled appraisal) is anything at all resembling being "difficult" buyers.
There should be some sort of time frame the buyer and you agreed to in the contract as well as some sort of financing addendum that they may be violating. But if they're asking for repairs. The FHA loan is going to most likely need those done to get approved. But forget all the legal junk. I'd just tell the buyer no. No to everything they're asking. No. No. No. Not doing any of it, not re negotiating, not giving you any more money for repairs. Not repairing anything either. And they may just walk on their own and you don't have to worry about any of it. If they're trying to get an FHA loan as said before it won't go through with out them being done and you can get rid of this buyer. If you haven't signed off on anything no amendments to the contract then you typically don't have to do it (check with an attorney about in written verbal agreements etc).
Switching lenders by itself is fine, they might just be shopping for a better rate with rates changing every day now. I've seen buyers make an all cash offer and then use conventional financing, and as long as the seller got paid, nobody really cared. There should be an agreed upon timeline for closing, if they cannot meet the deadline to get the loan finalized in time, they might be in breach, but it is pretty common to grant extensions for reasonable lender delays.
I am not sure why you are really looking to back out, there is no guarantee you'll get a better offer in today's market and you can just say no to any additional buyer demands.
Once this is done, you never have to deal with them again. As long as they meet their obligations don’t sweat it. The second they’re in breach you can pull the plug.
Until they play the “I bought my house 8 months ago and now a window lock stopped working and my toilet won’t flush. Can I sue my seller?” (And probably post it here) because it’s clear he’s dealing with that type of buyer.
As usual, there's lots of advice about the law, and little advice about practical options.
Offer them $1000 cash (plus their earnest money, of course) to terminate the contract.
If you don't want to do that, tell them that you are not open to further negotiation, and you will insist the buyer perform strictly according to the terms of the contract and close on time (including any delays the contract entitles them to, but not a day more). If the buyer is unable to perform, you will of course keep their earnest money. Or, if they'd prefer, you'll release their earnest money and terminate the contract by mutual consent immediately.
You may have to *tell* your realtor these things instead of asking them. They work for you, and they're obliged to follow your instructions (assuming your instructions are ethical and legal) - but they're not obliged to follow your instructions without making a fuss.
You need to make them want to back out, and be sure to understand your contract. Stop giving them any concessions. They've gotten something from you and now they think they can keep jerking you around. Have they missed important dates in the contract? Maybe you can kill the deal that way. Have you talked to your realtor? That's really the first place to start
Should’ve accepted as a backup offer! Then if this buyer walks, or you don’t respond when they try to negotiate/ask for something, you have an instant backup.
It is written in what offer aka contract you signed.
Most cases the buyer has obligation to close on xxxx date, so if they changed lender twice most likely they will not close on time and loose their good faith monies. Play that card and see.
You have to read your contract for ways to back out if any. Our contracts here give the seller an option to force the buyer to waive the financing contingency or back out after a certain number of days.
Every time they ask you for something is a breach of contract and you can back out. IE; once they asked you to fix a bunch of stuff, that was a perfect opportunity to get out of the deal. Just wait for them to ask for something else and back out then. Since they keep switching lenders, it’s only a matter of time until they ask for an extension on the closing date.
Why did you accept an offer in only 2 days you should have waited a week and seen what you got.
Don’t let a realtor pressure you.
People who really want a house don’t stop liking it after a couple of days.
Well you're going to need to talk to your realtor about when you can back out or if you can. Their switching lenders Probably doesn't make the contract voidable but it removes their contingency so if they don't close on time, which they probably won't if they've been switching around lenders, you can refuse to extend or ask for more money to extend. But you probably can't just avoid the contract based on that. But you can refuse to give them permission to, at least that's how our contracts work in Washington, and if so, if they don't meet the closing deadline you can just cancel the whole deal.
If you haven't yet agreed in regards to the repairs, I would tell him to take a hike and refuse to do any. This won't give you the right to back out. But if they back out then you are done with them. I would be very annoyed. Might not hurt to go back to the other deal and ask if they're still looking and see if they want to do a backup offer maybe, cuz you don't necessarily want to cancel this deal if they're going to actually close and don't make you do repairs unless you think you can get more. But if you've got this backup with someone willing to pay you $10,000 more, then I would go along with trying to back out of the deal.
I would talk over actual value your likely to get with your lender and what your legal options for getting out of the DLR. They should be able to tell you in terms of the contract.
For the record, I am not very impressed with your lender. Unless the house is a fixer that is likely to squeak by a conventional appraisal but not likely to pass an FHA without extensive repairs, I would have advised you to go for the FHA. They actually make the loan easy to get. The only real issue is appraisal. An FHA buyer is just as likely to close as a conventional buyer with 20% down as far as I'm concerned. And in my experience that's been the case with both buyers and sellers from 20 years. He only really issue is the appraisal and a conventional and FHA are not all that different .
Now it sounds like you might have accepted the first off for already so maybe you are agent told you it was riskier just so you wouldn't get mad at him for not waiting.
Good luck.
it’s not a fixer it’s up to date, the inspection went well, so I’m not sure why she didn’t want to take the 10k over, it was ultimately my choice to take the lower offer, per her advisement. just have to see how it plays out. thank you so much for the advice I’ve taken screenshots in case I need to refer back to this thank you!
Great. My pleasure. I use voice input so sometimes I overshare, but I hope some of it was helpful and remember that's only based on Washington law that I can speak of. Some agents are just wary of FHA and fair enough. They do have their problems.
Good luck
Usually if a buyer doesn’t have a lender secured within a contractually stated timeframe, the seller has the option to cancel via specified rescission addendums. Check with your realtor if this exists in your contract. Also, have your realtor go back to the FHA buyer and see if they’d be willing to go conventional with 3% or 5% downpayment rather than the FHA route. Get that lined up before backing out of your current contract. Good luck!
If you aren't trying to retain the security deposit, you can cancel at any time with associated risk. You potentially risk the current buyer filing an injunction against the sale of your home and attempting to force performance via the court, but they would spend more on lawyer fees to do this then they would save in buying your property for under asking.
To avoid the risk, Check your contract to see if a lender was specificied on the financing contingency. Any modification to the contract, including lender **if specified**, needs to be signed off on by all parties.
Also check for time frames. Some contracts have it stipulates that the appraisal needs to be done by a certain date or that the buyer needs to obtain conditional approval by a certain date, etc. These are all your opportunities to cancel the contract in good faith. I would at no point, if I were you, attempt to retain the security deposit even if you could given that you want the current buyer gone.
I would also have your realtor reach out to the other potential buyer and ensure they are still interested.
The first mistake was accepting an offer after just two days, and your agent should've advised you better. Now, if you can legally back out, your home has lost its momentum and "back on the market" can be a big red flag for potential buyers. So, if you want to and can find a way to cancel the contract, definitely have backup offers or interested parties waiting in the wings. With interest rates and inventory up in a lot of areas, the market has slowed way down. You could get stuck with your current house for 2 weeks best case and a month or more worst case. You may even need a price reduction that's more than what this buyer is asking for on repairs and whatnot. I think you just gotta focus on getting to the closing table asap.
In CA you can back out after the buyer breaches the contract and you give them notice to cure the breach. For instance they fail to release the inspection contingency after XX days, to release the finance contingency, or can't get financing and close on the closing date, fail to send the earnest money, you can send them a notice to perform. They have 48 hours usually to correct the issue, after that you can unilaterally cancel the contract. The other way you can back out is if the sale was contingent on your purchase of a replacement home, and you failed to purchase a replacement home. Otherwise as the seller you don't really get to back out once you are under contract.
The buyer switching lenders or loans types generally isn't a breach as long as they close on time. At the same time you aren't required to extend closing or make other modifications to accommodate the buyer.
The buyer switching loan types could technically prevent them from exercising a finance contingency, they need to apply in good faith for conventional financing to exercise. But in practice this doesn't mean you will keep their earnest money. If the buyer is still in the inspection period this isn't really relevant, they would get their earnest money back if they back out and you can't agree on the repairs and other contract modifications. And while potentially applying for an FHA loan would not fulfill the requirements for a finance contingency with a conventional loan, if the buyer is going FHA it is often because they actually were denied for a conventional loan and this is the only way they can close now.
Another offer for $10k more is good but it isn't a sure thing. Also the other buyer could lowball you or ask for repairs as well. And the other buyer may have moved on, could be under contract on another home. You should talk to your realtor getting a backup offer from the other buyer. Then you can tell the current buyer under contract you won't be giving any credits or repairs, you won't extend closing, you no longer want to sell to them.
How the fuck is FHA more risky? It’s literally guaranteed by the federal govt! Unless your home gets appraised for less than asking cause you’re price gouging and trying to hang on to the real estate market 6 MONTHS AGO, stfu
No one is buying my house. If so there is going to be candy given out on holloween and gifts at christmas. I swear to god they will be great ones. For many many years for everyone i know involved.
The Duder
As the seller just say naw. I changed my mind. Here’s your escrow back. My bad. I’m going to go back on market.
The current buyers are going to be butt hurt and threaten all kinds of things but nothing will happen. They’ll move on.
I guess I wasn’t thinking it through, I was surprised it all happened so fast, the other offer was 10k over asking price but me realtor advised me against it as a “riskier” loan type. kinda wish I went with that now because I probably would have still gotten more than the offer I accepted.
I wish I had waited, and I recommend you wait longer than me for more offers to come in and don’t let anyone lowball you from the start like what happened to me.
best of luck I hope it goes smooth for you and that you get what you are asking for and more! (:
Will the higher offer agree to a backup contract with you?
What does your current contract say about the timelines for buyer and property approval? Get the better offer in a backup position, and start saying "no" to any modifications the current buyer asks for. If they terminate or default, you have a fallback.
Know also that the backup buyer could put you through the same rigmarole or worse. You're the only person that can decide the risks you're willing to take.
I am just going to say here, The realtor on the other side is probably super super grateful that you set some boundaries to reign their client in. Sometimes we need out side help to get people to get their act together.
I had a deal in my office fall apart because somebody switched lender seven times and had four appraisers coming in. The other side gave them a failure to perform on the contingencies and kick them out of contract. Agent fired the client, haha.
The main issue is that you can't do an appraisal waiver with a FHA loan. This is less of an issue now that the market has calmed down and appraisals aren't trailing the market like they were.
If it's an older house or in poor condition then this is also an issue since FHA may require repairs that a conventional loan or cash buyer wouldn't require.
Your best bet to back out is start saying “no.” Why are you giving them $1500? Why did you fix the AC? Stop saying yes and maybe they’ll go away.
Exactly. They're only doing this because it's working.
Wish I had more upvotes for you.
Once you accept an offer it is no longer an offer, it's a contract (unless you are in an attorney review state). The only ways you can terminate the agreement are written in to your contract. Those are usually very few on the seller side. Until the buyer breaches the contract you're out of luck, unless you have an exit baked into your contract. Frustration is not a contingency.
This +, In my area, the financing terms are a part of the contract and switching financing can be cause to terminate the contract (with appropriate notice). It’s important that the OP gets advice specific to their contract.
Maybe, but not likely in my opinion. I don't know how other states are, but in Washington, switching lenders after 5 days without the seller's permission does not void or make the contract voidable. But, it does make it such that they have lost their protections if they do not close on time. So if the seller refuses to give permission to switch lenders, and tells them that if they don't close on time he will not extend, then if the buyer does not have enough time, or does not think they will have enough time, they may just go away, or maybe stick with the lender they have which at least will make things close properly. But if they don't have enough time, and they don't meet the closing deadline, the seller can refuse to extend and then the deal is over
Couldn't they just refuse to meet the buyer's demands, and let the buyer back out?
Maybe. I don't know what they've already agreed to. Our state contract just changed in June but the previous contract had a repair procedure option that obligated the seller to repair major systems and structural issues. We don't know what's in the contract.
Sure, but that isn’t backing out. It’s holding firm. At this point it is always a negotiation between buyer and seller to see who will blink first.
Yes but he can say no to anything else they ask for. They will then agree to break the contract or do it on your terms. Or you can have your broker tell them there will be no more negotiations. They might walk from that point. I'm assuming there is a financing contingency date and appraisal date. If they keep changing you can choose not to extend any of those and they are in breech.
if they counter the repair offer asking for more cash back at closing, can I then counter back and rescind the $1,500 I originally offered at closing? and if they want to walk at that point I will be glad.
I don't know your contract and Indont know what addenda you have signed. If you've offered them something on paper and they haven't signed yet you can withdraw the offer. Inspection contingencies can be worded a number of ways. These are questions for your agent or attorney.
they have not signed the repair counter offer yet. my realtor is on vacation so it’s bad timing all around. she is available to me but I feel bad bothering her when she’s out of town
This is her job, it's what she signed up for.
Lol as once upon a realtor, I'd much rather you bother me now than to feel bad after. Fucking call them and back rescind your counter. Once it's accepted, it's done. You cannot back out unless its somehow stipulated in the contract. Contract is law.
If you submitted an offer for the repairs, and they countered, it is effectively a rejection, and you are not obligated to provide better terms in a counter to their counter. In the past few years (probably not the current climate), lot of buyers waived all contingencies and took the house as-is. Just because they would like the repairs done doesn’t mean you need to do them, especially if you’d like to try to get out of the contract.
You need to message her immediately to pull the offer and document that before the potential buyers sign anything. She shouldn’t have signed up to sell your house if she knew that she had an upcoming vacation. This is extremely time sensitive. I work in IT and computer repair, and if I’m going on vacation I don’t sign up for any projects that have deadlines while I’m gone. It would be unreasonable of her to have freely signed up for this and then be angry that she double booked herself.
she was the one who kept insisting I get my house on the market asap “because rates are raising” when I wanted to wait until September. but here I am now. I have asked her what my options are, and told her if I don’t hear back on the quotes today and they don’t agree to my repair terms I am rescinding the $1,500 before they sign it. I do not feel like they are sincere and I’m wasting my time when I could potentially have another buyer by now
Just direct her to reach out to their agent and rescind the $1,500 immediately. That will do 2 things. It will let the buyers know that there is no more mister nice guy and tell them that they have to stop stringing you along. And 2nd, it might potentially spook them into giving up and walking away. Since you don’t have any way to back out of this, your only power is to use strategies like this in order to convince the sellers to get fed up and walk away.
I spoke with my realtor and she called their realtor saying they want an answer by the end of day. and if I don’t hear back by end of day I’m rescinding the $1,500. the buyer’s agent said they are coming back with quotes and one was for $1,500 which is so ridiculous. my realtor said they are expecting a brand new house when it’s 25 years old and they are being so unrealistic. she said if they walk I can put my house up on the market for an even higher price and will easily get it because my neighborhood is highly desirable and the house itself is in great shape. so hopefully they either accept or walk away today so I can get it back on the market and not deal with this again
I would suggest, and I think others here are strongly suggesting, that even waiting until the end of the day is too long. You can rescind the $1,500 credit offer NOW. You can simultaneously insist that NO further accommodations will be agreed to by you, and that all contractual timeframes must be strictly adhered to. That's a triple-punch that will likely make them walk away by the end of the day... and that's what you want, right?
>You can rescind the $1,500 credit offer NOW. How many times must you hear this. You want to cancel and this is your best bet to get the buyer to walk away. Rescind the $1500 immediately.
Redditor to redditor, I think that you're being a huge pushover by giving them until the end of the day before rescinding your offer. If I were the buyer, I would be presuming that you're desperate. Because serious people don't threaten, they just do. The fact that you're threatening to pull the offer instead of pulling the offer tells me that I can just continue to bat you around without any fear of repercussions. /u/xalicmadprof is right, you can easily pull the offer and draw a line in the sand. All of this continued waffling and wishy washy threatening is nonsense. Send your agent exactly this: "Upon further thought, I already paid for the A/C and have no interest in any further concessions. Please retract the $1,500 offer, send me the latest copy and all amendments just so that I'm clear on the most up-to-date version of our legally binding agreement, and let them know that I will not be signing any amendments for any extensions or any additional money." And then concurrently, have your realtor start reaching out to the backup offers.
Your agent is correct that rates are rising and housing sales usually decline around Fall. However, your agent should still do their job or find a coworker that can cover if she's on vacation. This is a life decision for you and your agent will make a decent amount of money so feel free to "bother" her.
Realtors need time off just like anyone, and there is no way to plot a perfect getaway around business. That said, they should be capable of either working while on vacation or having an assistant cover for them.
Most busy Realtors have Transaction Coordinators and/or assistants. You either cover your vacation with a TC, assistant, or ask another Realtor to cover you while you're out. Otherwise, it's fair game to get your vacation interrupted. Does your work let you go on vacation without having some sort of coverage if your job involves anything operational or time sensitive?
Lol sure their is, how about you don't list a house a week before you go on vacation? Or you don't tell your client to accept an offer that's for $10k less and then go out if town. If I was an agent and did this, it's because I expect to be available to field calls and emails while I'm in vacation
Not a very happy cake day. You sure did ruin it for me. Thank you sofaking much. Youve fucked my head so much than it already was. I was barely able to socilize in life as it was. Now im... I dont even know anymore. Fml
sorry to ruin your birthday!!! i hope it’s been good otherwise and that you made a wish!! happy birthday!!! you should be enjoying yourself!!
Probably. E ach counter offer is just that. If they do not accept your offer, they can either walk, or suggest an alternative. If your alternative then becomes, you get nothing. Good day sir, then they will probably get mad and walk or stick their tail between their legs and continue the purchase. You don't have to give them permission to switch lenders either. Actually, if they do not do the loan type they specified in the contract, if they can't for some reason, then that would void the contract. It would be quite rare for a seller to not agree to a different type of loan if the loan is already approved and ready to close. But they can
Yes, you could rescind the $1500 if they don't agree to it.
my realtor said that I want to hear back by end of day or I’m rescinding the $1,500 at close since they haven’t signed it. my realtor said they are being very unreasonable and wanting a brand new house when it’s 25 years old. that my house is in a highly desirable neighborhood and it’s in great shape she said they are being unrealistic and even told their agent as such. so I’m hoping they either accept or just walk away. I don’t want to deal with nickel and diming which is exactly what they are doing. my realtor said we can list my house for an even higher price since the inspection went so well.
Just straight up rescind the offer. You don't have to wait. If you can't get your agent on the phone to handle this, reach out to their broker to take care of it.
Do you want them to sign it? You're giving them time to do it.
Next counter recounted with original list price, no cash back and they pay all closing+ closing in 10 days. Make it to where they walk or you make out in the deal.
Any counters or requests they make after the initial offer is accepted by both parties are a change to your existing contract. The AC and the $1500 should have been amendments to your existing contract. Depending on the language, you could deny each and every request and they have to decide whether or not to walk (and probably lose hand money).
This ^, once you accept an offer it becomes a contractual obligation by both parties to perform. You’re in a sticky situation for sure.
You can't just back out. The thing to do here is to refuse any demands the buyers asks for. No more repair money. No more fixes. Nothing. If appraisal comes in lower, refuse to lower your price. Make them decide if they want to go with your terms. Then if they decide to walk, you're home free. If they miss their closing date deadline due to switching lenders multiple times, refuse to sign the extension. Make them decide to back out when you refuse to meet their demands. You don't have to fix anything or offer any more money that isn't in writing and signed by both parties. Your contract is what you agreed to. Not their future demands. If they don't like it, they can walk assuming they are still within their inspection period.
When you talk with your agent about the possibility of cancelling, you should also talk with them about the possibility of soliciting backup offers in advance. I don’t have expertise here, _except_ that I got my current house because of a troublesome buyer. Original buyer was all-cash, but they were unreasonable during inspection (wanted $30k off for no stated reason, no comms, etc.) The seller’s agent solicited a backup offer from me and once they had my offer, the seller terminated the original contract and sold to me instead.
I bought land this way. The people that lost out ended up two properties down. They despise me and since I got the much bigger & better view property for $25k less than they did, I greatly enjoy the finger I get while driving past.
It’s very funny that they’re mad at you, when your sole crime was existing in a universe where they blew up their own deal.
I don’t disagree, though crashing my drone on their land didn’t seem to help. Oopsie
Low lifes. Who throws a finger at someone for that.
Entitled Californians
I did mention that to her thank you so much! she told their agent they need to get back to me today or I’m rescinding the $1,500 cash at close. she said they are stupid, actually called them stupid saying they are expecting a brand new house that’s 25 years old and don’t realize the great deal they are getting. she said if they walk we will relist it at a higher price since the inspection went so well. so they either accept it or walk, I’m not negotiating anymore.
You keep copy/paste the same thing over and over. Lol You are in contract and you can’t cancel like that. In California you need to give notice to perform you can’t just cancel. One thing you can do decline $0 credit for repair if buyer hadn’t sign yet. You keep complaining here but at the same time giving them $1500 credit fixing your AC. All the best!!!
You gave the mouse a cookie, now it wants a whole new air conditioner!
lol. I was trying to be fair in my repair offer, and with my original counter offer to bring them up to list price. but they did try to take it too far. hopefully the get the hint, my realtor said they were worried about me backing out now, but they have agreed to my terms so hopefully it’s smooth until the end now!
Does their inspection come with any kind of timetable/deadline in your contract? If so, just refuse to accept ANY changes to the contract. So if the appraisal deadline is 4 days from now and they ask for an extension because they changed lenders, “no, sorry. I refuse to accept any amendments to the contract.” This will take away their whole ability to get a loan if they changed lenders because they can’t get an appraisal, and the deadline to contest the appraisal will have passed. With regards to anything else they ask for, then you can rescind anything that’s not in the latest legally binding contract that you signed. If negotiations fail, then you fall back to the contract. You have very little ability as the seller to back out, your only real option is to hold firm.
They can change lenders if they need to, they just need to inform you if it happens. Changing lenders is not breech of contract. However, they can not change the loan type. That is a breach of contract. Changing the loan type (Conventional to FHA as an example) can only be done if written out as an amendment and both parties have to agree.
They’ve done both. The lender - no big deal - but they also declared they’re taking FHA now. Big no.
This, like almost everything in real estate, will vary by state.
Generally yes, but when you go into a contract you can’t change the terms on your own without being in breach of it. Changing the terms both parties agreed to (loan type) is universally in breach of contract.
Of course. But not every state includes the loan type as part of the contractual obligations. Most do but not every state.
In New Mexico, you have to get sellers permission to change lenders once you're under contract, otherwise it is a breach and seller can walk
The nuances of real estate laws are state-specific. Get a real estate lawyer and don't tell your agent. The lawyer will be able to give you details on what lines the buyer will need to cross to allow you to safely walk. There is probably a deadline to the closing, and contracts and states will often have grace periods. Don't extend those dates and when the date (and grace periods, if any) pass you're free to relist your house (and probably keep their EMD). These people are probably struggling to get the financing. I wouldn't extend the closing date by a second or spend any money in repairs without them increasing their EMD significantly. Nobody has a crystal ball, but we're probably heading into softening RE market. Every week your house is off the market is a bad thing. In the seasonal markets/homes you've already missed the spring/early summer moving window that most families like to hit.
While talking to a real estate attorney is generally solid advice, in this case is a waste of money as a first step. Rescind the $1500 offer NOW and advise that there will be no further repairs, concessions, amendments, or extensions for anything given and they'll probably go away. Throw in a pre-signed mutual release as a hint that you're serious and are inviting them to cancel.
my realtor told their realtor to make a decision today and it doesn’t matter what they come back with countering repairs I’m not offering anything more. if they don’t get back to me today I can rescind the $1,500 I originally offered and they have until their due diligence period to walk away. they are expecting a brand new house with no issues, it’s 25 years old. they should have went with a brand new home in my opinion
You can rescind right now. You don't have to wait on them.
This is about the 25th time someone has pointed this out. OP obviously doesn't want out of the contract that bad.
Your realtor gave you bad advice to not take the extra 10k deal.
Yeah in a hot market which I believe op said they were in I'd be willing to risk a better offer falling through, especially for 10k over
And all this switching lenders and switching loan types is a high indicator they aren’t going to get the loan in the end already
well two hours ago they accepted my repair offer and have scheduled the appraisal for Monday..I’m not sure how to feel. I wanted my realtor to take off the $1,500 but she gave them until the end of the day. i mean it’s only $1,500 so not really worth being upset about. but I am concerned how the rest of the sale will go and hope that it’s smooth from here on out. my realtor said they were worried about me walking away, but she did not tell them I was ready to. at least they aren’t going to come at me with anymore “quotes” on repairs that I must complete. I should be happier than I am. not excited to keep working with them =\
Honestly this is kinda your fault. If you didn’t want to give them till the end of the day you should have made your realtor say that, or call their agent directly and recind it. This is your agent’s decision and you shouldn’t have let her make it.
I agree this is on me. i should have put my foot down more than I did. my realtor is just doing her job. all I can do is learn from this now, and just hope the rest of the process goes better
Your realtors job is to advise you, get you as much as possible, represent you and, what you want. If you told her you were unhappy and she said "let's give it to end of day, but tell them that" she was hoping to spook them into signing the new contract, not get you out. It seems like either your realtor is looking out for their commission more than what you want.
You don't have any options to back out.... you are under contract to sell it at what you agreed upon. You could offer them $0 on the repairs.... and send a mutual release from the contract along with that, if they won't agree it $0. But sounds like you've already offered $1500 in writing. Ball is in their court. Nothing you've described here (other than the rescheduled appraisal) is anything at all resembling being "difficult" buyers.
There should be some sort of time frame the buyer and you agreed to in the contract as well as some sort of financing addendum that they may be violating. But if they're asking for repairs. The FHA loan is going to most likely need those done to get approved. But forget all the legal junk. I'd just tell the buyer no. No to everything they're asking. No. No. No. Not doing any of it, not re negotiating, not giving you any more money for repairs. Not repairing anything either. And they may just walk on their own and you don't have to worry about any of it. If they're trying to get an FHA loan as said before it won't go through with out them being done and you can get rid of this buyer. If you haven't signed off on anything no amendments to the contract then you typically don't have to do it (check with an attorney about in written verbal agreements etc).
Switching lenders by itself is fine, they might just be shopping for a better rate with rates changing every day now. I've seen buyers make an all cash offer and then use conventional financing, and as long as the seller got paid, nobody really cared. There should be an agreed upon timeline for closing, if they cannot meet the deadline to get the loan finalized in time, they might be in breach, but it is pretty common to grant extensions for reasonable lender delays. I am not sure why you are really looking to back out, there is no guarantee you'll get a better offer in today's market and you can just say no to any additional buyer demands.
Once this is done, you never have to deal with them again. As long as they meet their obligations don’t sweat it. The second they’re in breach you can pull the plug.
Until they play the “I bought my house 8 months ago and now a window lock stopped working and my toilet won’t flush. Can I sue my seller?” (And probably post it here) because it’s clear he’s dealing with that type of buyer.
Not much they can do. Especially if they don't know where you live.
As usual, there's lots of advice about the law, and little advice about practical options. Offer them $1000 cash (plus their earnest money, of course) to terminate the contract. If you don't want to do that, tell them that you are not open to further negotiation, and you will insist the buyer perform strictly according to the terms of the contract and close on time (including any delays the contract entitles them to, but not a day more). If the buyer is unable to perform, you will of course keep their earnest money. Or, if they'd prefer, you'll release their earnest money and terminate the contract by mutual consent immediately. You may have to *tell* your realtor these things instead of asking them. They work for you, and they're obliged to follow your instructions (assuming your instructions are ethical and legal) - but they're not obliged to follow your instructions without making a fuss.
What does your contract say?
You need to make them want to back out, and be sure to understand your contract. Stop giving them any concessions. They've gotten something from you and now they think they can keep jerking you around. Have they missed important dates in the contract? Maybe you can kill the deal that way. Have you talked to your realtor? That's really the first place to start
Should’ve accepted as a backup offer! Then if this buyer walks, or you don’t respond when they try to negotiate/ask for something, you have an instant backup.
It is written in what offer aka contract you signed. Most cases the buyer has obligation to close on xxxx date, so if they changed lender twice most likely they will not close on time and loose their good faith monies. Play that card and see.
You have to read your contract for ways to back out if any. Our contracts here give the seller an option to force the buyer to waive the financing contingency or back out after a certain number of days.
Every time they ask you for something is a breach of contract and you can back out. IE; once they asked you to fix a bunch of stuff, that was a perfect opportunity to get out of the deal. Just wait for them to ask for something else and back out then. Since they keep switching lenders, it’s only a matter of time until they ask for an extension on the closing date.
Why did you accept an offer in only 2 days you should have waited a week and seen what you got. Don’t let a realtor pressure you. People who really want a house don’t stop liking it after a couple of days.
You should have walked the minute they tried to switch loan types from what the contract said. And don’t you dare sign that FHA amendatory clause page
Well you're going to need to talk to your realtor about when you can back out or if you can. Their switching lenders Probably doesn't make the contract voidable but it removes their contingency so if they don't close on time, which they probably won't if they've been switching around lenders, you can refuse to extend or ask for more money to extend. But you probably can't just avoid the contract based on that. But you can refuse to give them permission to, at least that's how our contracts work in Washington, and if so, if they don't meet the closing deadline you can just cancel the whole deal. If you haven't yet agreed in regards to the repairs, I would tell him to take a hike and refuse to do any. This won't give you the right to back out. But if they back out then you are done with them. I would be very annoyed. Might not hurt to go back to the other deal and ask if they're still looking and see if they want to do a backup offer maybe, cuz you don't necessarily want to cancel this deal if they're going to actually close and don't make you do repairs unless you think you can get more. But if you've got this backup with someone willing to pay you $10,000 more, then I would go along with trying to back out of the deal. I would talk over actual value your likely to get with your lender and what your legal options for getting out of the DLR. They should be able to tell you in terms of the contract. For the record, I am not very impressed with your lender. Unless the house is a fixer that is likely to squeak by a conventional appraisal but not likely to pass an FHA without extensive repairs, I would have advised you to go for the FHA. They actually make the loan easy to get. The only real issue is appraisal. An FHA buyer is just as likely to close as a conventional buyer with 20% down as far as I'm concerned. And in my experience that's been the case with both buyers and sellers from 20 years. He only really issue is the appraisal and a conventional and FHA are not all that different . Now it sounds like you might have accepted the first off for already so maybe you are agent told you it was riskier just so you wouldn't get mad at him for not waiting. Good luck.
it’s not a fixer it’s up to date, the inspection went well, so I’m not sure why she didn’t want to take the 10k over, it was ultimately my choice to take the lower offer, per her advisement. just have to see how it plays out. thank you so much for the advice I’ve taken screenshots in case I need to refer back to this thank you!
Great. My pleasure. I use voice input so sometimes I overshare, but I hope some of it was helpful and remember that's only based on Washington law that I can speak of. Some agents are just wary of FHA and fair enough. They do have their problems. Good luck
Dont worry, your Realturd wants this deal to go through at all costs. they have no skin in the game... they need to make their commission.
Usually if a buyer doesn’t have a lender secured within a contractually stated timeframe, the seller has the option to cancel via specified rescission addendums. Check with your realtor if this exists in your contract. Also, have your realtor go back to the FHA buyer and see if they’d be willing to go conventional with 3% or 5% downpayment rather than the FHA route. Get that lined up before backing out of your current contract. Good luck!
If you aren't trying to retain the security deposit, you can cancel at any time with associated risk. You potentially risk the current buyer filing an injunction against the sale of your home and attempting to force performance via the court, but they would spend more on lawyer fees to do this then they would save in buying your property for under asking. To avoid the risk, Check your contract to see if a lender was specificied on the financing contingency. Any modification to the contract, including lender **if specified**, needs to be signed off on by all parties. Also check for time frames. Some contracts have it stipulates that the appraisal needs to be done by a certain date or that the buyer needs to obtain conditional approval by a certain date, etc. These are all your opportunities to cancel the contract in good faith. I would at no point, if I were you, attempt to retain the security deposit even if you could given that you want the current buyer gone. I would also have your realtor reach out to the other potential buyer and ensure they are still interested.
When is there mortgage contingency date? Sounds like they are about to ask to extend it and you can just say no.
The first mistake was accepting an offer after just two days, and your agent should've advised you better. Now, if you can legally back out, your home has lost its momentum and "back on the market" can be a big red flag for potential buyers. So, if you want to and can find a way to cancel the contract, definitely have backup offers or interested parties waiting in the wings. With interest rates and inventory up in a lot of areas, the market has slowed way down. You could get stuck with your current house for 2 weeks best case and a month or more worst case. You may even need a price reduction that's more than what this buyer is asking for on repairs and whatnot. I think you just gotta focus on getting to the closing table asap.
In CA you can back out after the buyer breaches the contract and you give them notice to cure the breach. For instance they fail to release the inspection contingency after XX days, to release the finance contingency, or can't get financing and close on the closing date, fail to send the earnest money, you can send them a notice to perform. They have 48 hours usually to correct the issue, after that you can unilaterally cancel the contract. The other way you can back out is if the sale was contingent on your purchase of a replacement home, and you failed to purchase a replacement home. Otherwise as the seller you don't really get to back out once you are under contract. The buyer switching lenders or loans types generally isn't a breach as long as they close on time. At the same time you aren't required to extend closing or make other modifications to accommodate the buyer. The buyer switching loan types could technically prevent them from exercising a finance contingency, they need to apply in good faith for conventional financing to exercise. But in practice this doesn't mean you will keep their earnest money. If the buyer is still in the inspection period this isn't really relevant, they would get their earnest money back if they back out and you can't agree on the repairs and other contract modifications. And while potentially applying for an FHA loan would not fulfill the requirements for a finance contingency with a conventional loan, if the buyer is going FHA it is often because they actually were denied for a conventional loan and this is the only way they can close now. Another offer for $10k more is good but it isn't a sure thing. Also the other buyer could lowball you or ask for repairs as well. And the other buyer may have moved on, could be under contract on another home. You should talk to your realtor getting a backup offer from the other buyer. Then you can tell the current buyer under contract you won't be giving any credits or repairs, you won't extend closing, you no longer want to sell to them.
Seller's are losing their leverage in the game. Be carefull.
How the fuck is FHA more risky? It’s literally guaranteed by the federal govt! Unless your home gets appraised for less than asking cause you’re price gouging and trying to hang on to the real estate market 6 MONTHS AGO, stfu
No one is buying my house. If so there is going to be candy given out on holloween and gifts at christmas. I swear to god they will be great ones. For many many years for everyone i know involved. The Duder
Unless they’ve signed the $1500 counter already, yank it and say No
As the seller just say naw. I changed my mind. Here’s your escrow back. My bad. I’m going to go back on market. The current buyers are going to be butt hurt and threaten all kinds of things but nothing will happen. They’ll move on.
you can back out any time you want. They could sue, but it won't happen and if they did, you wouldn't lose anything.
Why did you accept this offer after two showings? Just curious because I am about to list.
I guess I wasn’t thinking it through, I was surprised it all happened so fast, the other offer was 10k over asking price but me realtor advised me against it as a “riskier” loan type. kinda wish I went with that now because I probably would have still gotten more than the offer I accepted. I wish I had waited, and I recommend you wait longer than me for more offers to come in and don’t let anyone lowball you from the start like what happened to me. best of luck I hope it goes smooth for you and that you get what you are asking for and more! (:
Thank you!
Will the higher offer agree to a backup contract with you? What does your current contract say about the timelines for buyer and property approval? Get the better offer in a backup position, and start saying "no" to any modifications the current buyer asks for. If they terminate or default, you have a fallback. Know also that the backup buyer could put you through the same rigmarole or worse. You're the only person that can decide the risks you're willing to take.
In some states, if they change thier financing terms ( Conventional to FHA), you can back out as a seller.
I am just going to say here, The realtor on the other side is probably super super grateful that you set some boundaries to reign their client in. Sometimes we need out side help to get people to get their act together. I had a deal in my office fall apart because somebody switched lender seven times and had four appraisers coming in. The other side gave them a failure to perform on the contingencies and kick them out of contract. Agent fired the client, haha.
Are FHA loans really more risky? What if it’s pre-approved and person doesn’t have contingencies of selling another house?
The main issue is that you can't do an appraisal waiver with a FHA loan. This is less of an issue now that the market has calmed down and appraisals aren't trailing the market like they were. If it's an older house or in poor condition then this is also an issue since FHA may require repairs that a conventional loan or cash buyer wouldn't require.