Sold my house at the beach in three days and then....

AC Man · May 2020

Had a contract for asking price and $20,000 deposit. I accepted and 12 hours later before I had a chance to even sign and send the contract back they pulled the plug in change their mind got cold feet. Lol got to love real estate business. Turns out they live in Dubai they were buying it sight unseen. Who does that? They do have a month to return to the US but I'm not counting on it. Cancel their contract back for sale.

I know realtors make a killing on a sale but you got to admit they got to go through a lot of crap

gogittum · May 2020

Were you able to keep the deposit ?? I had a buyer for my place last September and at the last minute it fell thru due to their financing. I was completely packed, was going to pick up the Ryder truck the next morning, had a crew coming in to load the truck, then bam. Major disappointment.....but I did keep the earnest money. Some of my stuff is still packed.....shows how badly I need that stuff, eh ?? :-)

cadman · May 2020

You should have signed that contract quick and then kept the deposit.

Wonder if the oral acceptance is binding?

FloridaMetalFab · May 2020

They didn't happen to send you a cashiers check for 20k and have you wire back the refund did they?

4WARD · May 2020

That is interesting, my parents are buying a house up here now.
The realtor is currently working on a sight unseen deal with some people from Dubai. Hmmm?

conchydong · May 2020

4WARD said:

That is interesting, my parents are buying a house up here now.
The realtor is currently working on a sight unseen deal with some people from Dubai. Hmmm?

What are the odds? Smells fishy.

King_Me · May 2020

I had a somewhat bad experience a few months when I sold a house. Listed house on a Friday, open house was the following day(Saturday), had 8 offers Monday morning. Took the best offer that was $2K over asking price. Buyers were getting a FHA loan to buy it, in the mean time the inspection, appraisal and survey was done with no issues, just had to wait for bank to release the funds.

During this period is when the pandemic threat was just starting. Closing dates got postponed as bank was not done processing the loan, finally get a solid closing date. Then the day before the closing the buyers demanded $3K off the price or they were ending the deal. Their excuse was they were concerned about their financial position with their employment and savings because of the pandemic.

Our realtor gave me the option to get out or take deal. The thought of sitting on the house during the pandemic for who knows how long worried me, went through with the deal taking $3K off price.

They only had a deposit of $5K. I always thought the norm was 10-20% of the price. That would have been a no-brainer in keeping their deposit and exit the deal if that was the case. Not sure why my realtor only requested the $5K.

Bimini_Twisted · May 2020

5K deposit is pretty good, earnest money is just to make them think twice about pulling out, not usually like the cash needed as a down payment on a loan.

Iv'e lost more stomach lining buying and selling houses than I have worrying about cancer in the family. Hate the process, and all the little BS that goes on until the deal is done.

FloridaMetalFab · May 2020

King_Me said:

I had a somewhat bad experience a few months when I sold a house. Listed house on a Friday, open house was the following day(Saturday), had 8 offers Monday morning. Took the best offer that was $2K over asking price. Buyers were getting a FHA loan to buy it, in the mean time the inspection, appraisal and survey was done with no issues, just had to wait for bank to release the funds.

During this period is when the pandemic threat was just starting. Closing dates got postponed as bank was not done processing the loan, finally get a solid closing date. Then the day before the closing the buyers demanded $3K off the price or they were ending the deal. Their excuse was they were concerned about their financial position with their employment and savings because of the pandemic.

Our realtor gave me the option to get out or take deal. The thought of sitting on the house during the pandemic for who knows how long worried me, went through with the deal taking $3K off price.

They only had a deposit of $5K. I always thought the norm was 10-20% of the price. That would have been a no-brainer in keeping their deposit and exit the deal if that was the case. Not sure why my realtor only requested the $5K.

I think FHA loans are 3.5% deposit

cadman · May 2020

King_Me said:

I had a somewhat bad experience a few months when I sold a house. Listed house on a Friday, open house was the following day(Saturday), had 8 offers Monday morning. Took the best offer that was $2K over asking price. Buyers were getting a FHA loan to buy it, in the mean time the inspection, appraisal and survey was done with no issues, just had to wait for bank to release the funds.

During this period is when the pandemic threat was just starting. Closing dates got postponed as bank was not done processing the loan, finally get a solid closing date. Then the day before the closing the buyers demanded $3K off the price or they were ending the deal. Their excuse was they were concerned about their financial position with their employment and savings because of the pandemic.

Our realtor gave me the option to get out or take deal. The thought of sitting on the house during the pandemic for who knows how long worried me, went through with the deal taking $3K off price.

They only had a deposit of $5K. I always thought the norm was 10-20% of the price. That would have been a no-brainer in keeping their deposit and exit the deal if that was the case. Not sure why my realtor only requested the $5K.

$3000 would not make much of a change to anything financially. $15 a month in the payment and $100 or so in the down payment.

I think they figured you wouldn't back out over $3000 and try it to see what happened. Did they just take a price reduction or ask it to go toward closing costs?

AC Man · May 2020

Bimini_Twisted said:

5K deposit is pretty good, earnest money is just to make them think twice about pulling out, not usually like the cash needed as a down payment on a loan.

Iv'e lost more stomach lining buying and selling houses than I have worrying about cancer in the family. Hate the process, and all the little BS that goes on until the deal is done.

My wife hung up on me yesterday when I told her I feel like I was punched in the gut 12 hours after getting an offer and then the buyer backing out. She said you can't worry about it you've got to stop worrying about it and just let it go whatever happens happens. I definitely worry more in my older age than when I was younger so I'm going to take her advice and just roll with it. I got too much else to worry about.

AC Man · May 2020

cadman said:

You should have signed that contract quick and then kept the deposit.

Wonder if the oral acceptance is binding?

I'm not sure how it works these days. I haven't sold a house in over 30 years so I am not very educated on the procedure. I was going to show it to a local realtor buddy of mine the next day to see if the contract was legit and I wasn't going to get hosed. But it never got that far. As far as the $20,000 deposit I didn't even ask. I'm not positive but I think there is a two or three-day cancellation on a contract available with no penalty. Correct me if I'm wrong

AC Man · May 2020

4WARD said:

That is interesting, my parents are buying a house up here now.
The realtor is currently working on a sight unseen deal with some people from Dubai. Hmmm?

That is odd. You lost me a little bit if your parents are buying the house why can't they look at it. What am I missing this seems the reverse of my situation

cadman · May 2020

AC Man said:

cadman said:

You should have signed that contract quick and then kept the deposit.

Wonder if the oral acceptance is binding?

I'm not sure how it works these days. I haven't sold a house in over 30 years so I am not very educated on the procedure. I was going to show it to a local realtor buddy of mine the next day to see if the contract was legit and I wasn't going to get hosed. But it never got that far. As far as the $20,000 deposit I didn't even ask. I'm not positive but I think there is a two or three-day cancellation on a contract available with no penalty. Correct me if I'm wrong

It depends on the contract and what it says. Some have a Right of Recission clause.

King_Me · May 2020

cadman said:

King_Me said:

Did they just take a price reduction or ask it to go toward closing costs?

This was a little weird the way this all played out. Apparently the buyers agent was the one working with my agent to get the $3K as requested by buyers. My realtor obviously wanted the deal to through so he told me he was going to give them the $3K in cash(not sure if it was their agent or the actual buyers getting the cash). I was a little suspicious of what was going on, not sure if my agent or their agent was doing something fishy.

We went through the closing, my realtor called and said he needed the $3K transferred into his account. I transferred the funds into his account, the next day I had to know if the buyers actually requested the $3K and wanted to know if they received it. I called them, they acknowledged and said they got the money.

I was so relieved to hear they got it, not sure what I would have done if they didn't request it or didn't get it.

4WARD · May 2020

AC Man said:

4WARD said:

That is interesting, my parents are buying a house up here now.
The realtor is currently working on a sight unseen deal with some people from Dubai. Hmmm?

That is odd. You lost me a little bit if your parents are buying the house why can't they look at it. What am I missing this seems the reverse of my situation

No AC, separate deal. Just that their ( my parents)realtor mentioned that she got a cold call from some people in Dubai. They wanted to make an offer on a different house.

cadman · June 2020

King_Me said:

cadman said:

King_Me said:

Did they just take a price reduction or ask it to go toward closing costs?

This was a little weird the way this all played out. Apparently the buyers agent was the one working with my agent to get the $3K as requested by buyers. My realtor obviously wanted the deal to through so he told me he was going to give them the $3K in cash(not sure if it was their agent or the actual buyers getting the cash). I was a little suspicious of what was going on, not sure if my agent or their agent was doing something fishy.

We went through the closing, my realtor called and said he needed the $3K transferred into his account. I transferred the funds into his account, the next day I had to know if the buyers actually requested the $3K and wanted to know if they received it. I called them, they acknowledged and said they got the money.

I was so relieved to hear they got it, not sure what I would have done if they didn't request it or didn't get it.

So they were short cash and needed $3000. Since you closed at the original price the agents got 6% of the $3000 you paid the buyers.

It is not unusual for buyers today to ask for some closing money, They usually do it up front. Yours sounds very strange. Was the $3000 even in the contract?

Gary S · June 2020

To be honest this doesn't pass the stink test. Cash money being passed around that is not in the contract sounds fishy.

mplspug · June 2020

Shouldn't the $3000 go to a third party or escrow to hold the money?

Florida Bullfrog · June 2020

Florida requires real estate transactions to be in writing to be binding. Ignore a google result that says otherwise, unless there’s been a recent change to the law since I studied for the Bar.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0725/Sections/0725.01.html

When I worked in the Clerk of Court’s office in Marion county it was pretty normal for speculators from South Florida to buy land sight unseen in Ocala and only ask questions after the land was bought. Once some poor black lady from South Florida had or was about to pull the trigger on a lot in Hog Valley. Those who know Ocala know that’s used to be a no-man’s land for minorities. I steered her from that best I could.

King_Me · June 2020

The $3K transaction was unprofessional and caught me by surprise. Since it was the day before the closing is why the cash idea came up, we didn't want any more delays. A professional and better way to do the $3K reduction would have been done if time wasn't a factor.

If we rewrote the contract to reduce the purchase amount by $3K it would have taken at least 10 days and who knows with the pandemic going on into full force by then.

If the pandemic didn't exist and they did it, I would have certainly called their bluff and went to next the offer.

I got a glimpse of their paper work for their mortgage, they actually got a loan for $20K over the purchase price. Not sure if the house would have appraised to that level but that's what I saw.

They didn't need the funds for the closing, they simply wanted to pocket the $3K.

ferris1248 · June 2020

King_Me said:

The $3K transaction was unprofessional and caught me by surprise. Since it was the day before the closing is why the cash idea came up, we didn't want any more delays. A professional and better way to do the $3K reduction would have been done if time wasn't a factor.

If we rewrote the contract to reduce the purchase amount by $3K it would have taken at least 10 days and who knows with the pandemic going on into full force by then.

If the pandemic didn't exist and they did it, I would have certainly called their bluff and went to next the offer.

I got a glimpse of their paper work for their mortgage, they actually got a loan for $20K over the purchase price. Not sure if the house would have appraised to that level but that's what I saw.

They didn't need the funds for the closing, they simply wanted to pocket the $3K.

I'd discuss it with the agent. If you do not get a satisfactory explanation, I'd report them to the Real Estate board.

King_Me · June 2020

ferris1248 said:

King_Me said:

The $3K transaction was unprofessional and caught me by surprise. Since it was the day before the closing is why the cash idea came up, we didn't want any more delays. A professional and better way to do the $3K reduction would have been done if time wasn't a factor.

If we rewrote the contract to reduce the purchase amount by $3K it would have taken at least 10 days and who knows with the pandemic going on into full force by then.

If the pandemic didn't exist and they did it, I would have certainly called their bluff and went to next the offer.

I got a glimpse of their paper work for their mortgage, they actually got a loan for $20K over the purchase price. Not sure if the house would have appraised to that level but that's what I saw.

They didn't need the funds for the closing, they simply wanted to pocket the $3K.

I'd discuss it with the agent. If you do not get a satisfactory explanation, I'd report them to the Real Estate board.

My realtor said we could have went to a court and a judge would probably decide in our favor but under the circumstances with the virus and their concern about their finances due to the pandemic the judge might have ruled in their favor.

If they had put down a significant deposit I would have looked into legal action against them.

On a side note: I invested a quarter of the money from the proceeds of the house sale into a couple of stocks and a few mutual funds, up $5,500 already. The account was solely setup for the money from the house. Time will tell

navigator2 · June 2020

AC Man said:

Had a contract for asking price and $20,000 deposit. I accepted and 12 hours later before I had a chance to even sign and send the contract back they pulled the plug in change their mind got cold feet. Lol got to love real estate business. Turns out they live in Dubai they were buying it sight unseen. Who does that? They do have a month to return to the US but I'm not counting on it. Cancel their contract back for sale.

I know realtors make a killing on a sale but you got to admit they got to go through a lot of crap

You need to employ the services of Captain Migillicuddy, master of the sea, and realtor extraordinaire.

Gary S · June 2020

Talked to my wife about this (see is a realtor) and she says the agent could lose her license over this. Maybe you can get her to split it with you now that she has been paid.

Soda Popinski · June 2020

Personally if someone had come to me like that and demanded an extra 3 grand i'd tell them to go pound sand and kill the deal. But i'm stubborn to a fault. That kind of sketchy last minute crap should be a black eye for both of those real estate agents IMO. I'd tell them to each eat 1500 of their commission instead.

King_Me · June 2020

Soda Popinski said:

Personally if someone had come to me like that and demanded an extra 3 grand i'd tell them to go pound sand and kill the deal. But i'm stubborn to a fault. That kind of sketchy last minute crap should be a black eye for both of those real estate agents IMO. I'd tell them to each eat 1500 of their commission instead.

I would have told them where to go if the threat of the pandemic wasn't there. This was right at the height of the madness and where the stock market bottomed out. Yeah, I was pissed. If it was anymore than $3K I would have called their bluff.

Soda Popinski · June 2020

King_Me said:

Soda Popinski said:

Personally if someone had come to me like that and demanded an extra 3 grand i'd tell them to go pound sand and kill the deal. But i'm stubborn to a fault. That kind of sketchy last minute crap should be a black eye for both of those real estate agents IMO. I'd tell them to each eat 1500 of their commission instead.

I would have told them where to go if the threat of the pandemic wasn't there. This was right at the height of the madness and where the stock market bottomed out. Yeah, I was pissed. If it was anymore than $3K I would have called their bluff.

I get that. It's easy to say "I would have done this" in your situation, but then when you are caught off guard, by a phone call unexpectedly, a day or two before the close, and you have plans to use that money for something else, or are closing on another house like I have done before, and you don't have all the time and no pressure i can see how its a lot more difficult to figure out the right course of action. If that house sits on the market for another 6 months that 3 grand is negligible in comparison. So in your situation i would have probably done the same thing you did, but I would have been kicking rocks mad and ****ing and moaning the whole time lol.

AC Man · June 2020

Well I received two signed contracts today for slightly above asking price. Both single women. One is an investor. Makes me think I'm selling too low yeah, but heck I had to talk the realtor up $25,000 from what he wanted to list it at.

I signed and accepted the contract waiting on the inspector. I know the bank inspection as far as electric plumbing mechanical Roofing termites xcetera will be good if they try to beat me up on odds-and-ends they can kiss my ****. Take it or leave it. We spent $35,000 upgrading my mom's house when she moved out and then the inspector came up with another twenty-six thousand in repairs we accepted it because we were tired of dealing with it. That ain't happening here those home inspectors are the death nail in real estate. I know several of them and they are egomaniacs trying to prove their point in earned their three hundred bucks. They scare the home buyers to death and kill sales unless you got a Savvy buyer.

Tarpon65 · June 2020

Hope the contract sticks this time for you AC.

King_Me · June 2020

I was concerned when the inspection was done on my house prior to selling. I knew all the little minor issues like small pool plumbing leak, cracked door, issues with sprinklers and other minor stuff like that, inspection came back with only one flag, a toilet water valve had a very small leak, I never knew about it. Replaced it myself for around $8.00

I know they could have nick-picked and noted a lot of small issues and probably would have the buyers come back with demands for a lower price. I was relieved to only get flagged for the relatively small problem.

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