Ever have a seller (real estate) change their mind?

[Brer Shay]

Our small business, located in PA, has a contract to purchase a small office. All of the contingencies were released last month (inspection issues, etc..). Settlement was to by 11/1. Seller asked for and we agreed to an extension to 11/15. On 11/12, they requested extension to 11/29. Today we're hearing, through his real estate agent that he might just call off the deal. We were told at an earlier extenion, the issue is how the proceeds will be distributed between he and an ex-wife.

Now, I KNOW that you can't just "change your mind" that's the point of the contract. Either the sale goes through or they need to incent us to agree to a cancellation. I'm curious if you've been in this scenario, what was the process you went through, how far (legally) did you have to go, what was the final agreement?

 

[msmayor]

My brother had the buyer of his house decide to back out about 2 weeks before the closing. He went through a lot of conversations with his attorney to sort things out.

The long story short...he could indeed have "forced" the sale to conclude based on the contract, but the reality was that the buyer could have continued to stall and delay with any one of a number of heel-dragging tactics. The contract was not "time of the essence" to force a date, and there were no specific penalties set forth in the event either party wanted to rescind.

Ultimately, he let her out because in the long run it would be less hassle for him. He did, in the next contract written, include verbage about non-refundable deposit amounts in the event of cancellation, and was more specific to make sure the sale couldn't be cancelled.

 

[Darcy03231]

As a buyer you have the right to go to court to force the owner to sell. A sales agreement is a binding contract. Its entirely up to you whether you want to do it though as it can be time consuming and expensive. If the seller wants out and I could purchase a comparable property at a similar pice, I would add up all my costs, add something to it for aggravation and let the seller buy his way out of the contract.

 

[andycat]

The Pennsylvania state bar association has a lawyer referral service where you can ask for the name of a lawyer near you that specializes in real estate law, and receive an initial 30-minute consultation for $30 or less. He should be able to tell you in that time what your options are and what costs would be involved. Google "pennsylvania state bar association" for the link.

 

[Brer Shay]

We have an attorney that we'll work with if it becomes necessary. We've got some money already into the deal that we'd certainly want repaid. I was mostly curious about how long the process might take. I know "your mileage may vary," guess I'd just like to know how often this kind of thing happens. I get a buyer backing out, but a seller? Either you wanted to sell or you didn't. Thanks for the input.