Question on selling my house

[Virgo10]

What I'm looking for is to see if this is the way things should work or if we've been asked to do something that most realtors don't do. Here's the deal...

We have people who want to buy our house. On 9/29 they put a refundable deposit down. This deposit will give them exclusive rights to the house until October 12th. During this time other people can come and look but they cannot make an offer.

I have a friend who says this is wrong. That if someone else wants the house while we're waiting for them to make up their mind, that offer should hold as much weight as the first one. I guess she feels that way because the deposit these people have put down is refundable and if they pull out we've lost 2 weeks when maybe someone else might have bought it.

I still think the original people are going to buy it but you just never know. Is this the ways things work? Part of me thinks it makes sense but then it also seems strange that you can hold something, get all your money back and we'd be out those 14 days of perspective buyers.

Any input on this would be appreciated.

Roberta

 

[Serena]

It doesn't sound right to me. It's not fair to you at all.

 

[marlasmom]

I am amazed that a real estate agent would go along with this. If you have already accepted, there is probably nothing you can do, but I wouldn't go along with this again.

 

[LoraJ]

What are they doing in that 2 weeks? Getting inspectors to check out your house? Or are they just putting a hold on it in case *they* find something better?

I've never heard of a refundable deposit for a hold when buying a house.

 

[Luv2Roam]

First time I heard that one, and I cannot imagine why anyone would go along with it.
They just gave you a deposit that protects them and gave you nothing except leaving you in limbo and the opportunity to miss out on better offers.
But the deed is done and you agreed to it. But if you have not done it -- DON'T. Not unless you really are getting something out of the deal.
We have sold three homes, one I even did on my own. I have never heard of this type of deposit.

 

[mudnuri]

The reason for a deposit- is so they dont back out after you've wasted time with not selling your house...

The deposit should always be NON REFUNDABLE should they back out...of course, there are usually conditions- like the house must pass the inspection etc..

Theres NO WAY I would EVER do a refundable deposit while selling my house.......no way no how

Brandy

 

[beebumble]

Many homes and I have never heard of this. In the mean time you are losing out on potential buyers. Tell your agent to shape up or ship out. I would complain to the head of his/her company It just doesnt sound right
Have a disney day

 

[Luv2Roam]

Their Realtor probably figures to ask for the moon. All you can do is say no.
If your Realtor is willing to go along with it, I would find a new one.
In a way you can see this as potential trouble ahead if they do buy your house. They may just be people who ask for or expect too much, and their Realtor is too aggressive.
The house I sold, I chose the couple who offered less. That was because the DH for the higger bidder couple I could see to be real potential pain.
It's one thing to be cautious or picky. But there is a limit that sellers or buyers will take.
Some will ask for ridiculous limits just on the chance they can get near that and try to make you feel like you still "won".

 

[Pin Wizard]

I would say no way!! That's not right, not fair, and if they do back out, you have nothing to compensate you for the time you've lost while they sat on it.

I had a buyer while just thinking about selling. I signed a contract with a realtor I knew of just so he could show the buyer the house. The guy put down a deposit, and my realtor explained that if the guy backed out, it would NOT be refunded to him! I wouldn't go for the deal those people want...not at all. Hope you have someone else come by soon if they don't do it as they should.

 

[Virgo10]

After reading the very small print what I wrote initially is only partly true.

The form we signed says:
The offer is subject to the buyer obtaining at his own expense, a home, lead paint, radon and woodboring insect inspection by consultants of the Buyer's choosing by ***. If the buyer is not satisfied with the results of each inspection(s) this Offer may be terminated by the Buyer by notifying the Seller and Broker in writing on or before *** and the deposit will be returned to the Buyer.

That seems a little better but they still have the right to take until 10/12 and the inspection was done yesterday. If they pull out for any reason, I'm going to ask for a copy of the home inspectors report. I was listening to him as he walked around with the buyer and he said everything was sound... just some normal home maintenence that they may want to do.

Thanks to all who responded.

Roberta

 

[Pin Wizard]

Hmmm...I don't know if you'd actually get a copy of the report if you asked. You could bring in your own guy and pay for him to do an inspection. However, I have to say that I was extremely pleased with the inspector my buyer had. After he completed his report, he went over EVERYTHING with all of us there together. Wish I could remember what company it was. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone in FL. And I liked him a whole lot more than the inspector I hired when I bought that home 8 years ago.

Good luck! Hope all the reports come back without any deal breakers!!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Now that is normal.
I think you should receive a copy of the inspection report regardless. But whomever (buyers) paid for the inspector, he is their agent. Not yours, although it is your house.

Some inspectors are extremely picky. (Like the one on the last house we sold.) He listed things that I am sure nothing was wrong with. One item was corrosion under the shaft of the kitchen faucet.
Give me a break. It's a $20 faucet that was original with the house. If someone doesn't like it -- they can replace it.

Now -- just as an example -- say the inspector came back with a bad roof. If you do not want to replace or repair it, and you and the buyer cannot come to an agreement, then they get their deposit back in full.

You in turn will have to disclose the faulty roof (or whatever) to your next potential buyer.

In our case where we did not believe some of what the inspector wrote, we were going to bring in our own inspector.

Sometimes the inspectors are just used as a leveling or re-negotiating tool.

 

[chrissyk]

This just doesn't seem right at all. We sold FSBO, so no realtors on either end. The buyers put down $1000 of earnest money with their signed offer, and I kept showing the house. Then, after the inspection and radon test, they put down 10%. This was refundable as long as they met their financing committment date.

The only thing that I was obligated to do was to disclose that the house was "under agreement" whenever I showed it to a potential backup buyer. I seriously don't see how you could be obligated to a buyer the way that this buyer/realtor is trying to obligate you. This is why I'm glad that I did FSBO and let my lawyer handle everything.

 

[QueenTrident]

I think it all depends on where you live. In NJ, the initial deposit is put down on the buyers signing the contract. Until we are out of attorney review (this took more than a week in our case), we could still show the house. Once out of attorney review, we took our house off the market. Within 10 days of attorney review close, the buyer had to provide us with the inspection report and 10% deposit. If there was anything in the inspection they didn't like, we'd have to negotiate. We are still doing this. Conceivably, they could back out now, if they wanted and we'd have to give back our deposit. It's not ideal, but hopefully everything will work out (I believe most do). They could also back out if, for some reason, they couldn't get their financing.

It's not entirely fair to me, the seller, but that's the way it seems to work here - especially if you're dealing with realtors.

 

[sweet angel]

Originally posted by Virgo10
After reading the very small print what I wrote initially is only partly true.

The form we signed says:
The offer is subject to the buyer obtaining at his own expense, a home, lead paint, radon and woodboring insect inspection by consultants of the Buyer's choosing by ***. If the buyer is not satisfied with the results of each inspection(s) this Offer may be terminated by the Buyer by notifying the Seller and Broker in writing on or before *** and the deposit will be returned to the Buyer.

That seems a little better but they still have the right to take until 10/12 and the inspection was done yesterday. If they pull out for any reason, I'm going to ask for a copy of the home inspectors report. I was listening to him as he walked around with the buyer and he said everything was sound... just some normal home maintenence that they may want to do.

Thanks to all who responded.

Roberta

Don't know how it works by you, but in NJ, that language is pretty standard.

Also, in NJ, once you have a signed contract (whether or not you're out of attorney review), I don't believe you're supposed to be able to show the house unless your contract has a "kick-out" clause.

 

[Disney Doll]

Highly unusual. My DH is a realtor(actually manager of the office now) and they usually do a "binder continue to show", which means that the house is noted as having a bindered offer on it, but can continue to be shown until contracts are signed.

If you have signed something agreeing to this other type of arrangement, you're probably out of luck.

I wouldn't agree to it again, if this deal falls through.