Anyone familiar with real estate law ?

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As long as the seller isn't holding your deposit, you should be safe to get it back. A third party escrow agent is one of the better situations.

Point blank I'd ask your agent, WHO has the EMD? Then you'll know.

Once you attempt to negotiate a new lower price, the original deal is technically dead. The refusal of new offer is the final nail in that coffin. Should have been paperwork to memorialize the new offer with the sellers refusal.

Back up offers are normal course of business in real estate.
 
The buyer can make up the difference, or the seller can lower his price. But, neither is required to do anything. everything is conditional on financing, including the appraisal. If the lender denys the loan based on low appraisal, the deal is dead. The seller has to refund the money,as the title companies I know will not release any funds until both parties agree to cancelling the contract.


The greater burden here is actually on the seller. If he resells without a release from the first buyer, and the first buyer changes his mind in a week or a month and finds the funds, he can walk in and demand the seller sell it to him per the first contract. That seller would be in a very tight jam, as you can sell house only once at a time.

If the seller agent had a brain in her/his head, they would be begging the first buyer to take the money back,,, just PLEASE sign a release!

as a listing agent on the first day I tell sellers that deposit is worthless,,if there is a problem with anything, give it back and dump the crappy buyer.
otherwise it is like a nasty divorce, and the house is held hostage.


When I am a Buyer agent, I say the same in reverse, if you want to back out of a deal, you remind the seller that you will gladly release them provided you get your money back, as I know you can't resell it unless I do!


The last tidbit is the state does not care who is right or wrong in this case, they only want you to fix the problem, in court if necessary. And most people do not know that if another Buyer presents a seller agent an offer on the day of closing, they are required to present it. And, the seller has the right to accept it.

However, the state also says the seller can be held responsible with consequences
in court should the second buyer object. Goofy, yes?
 
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oldmopardude said:
he can't hold the earnest deposit, but if he does he also can't resell the house, as you two have a contract.
I recommend your agent tell his agent if he resells without a release, you can sue him for damages and harm, thus putting a cloud on his title. no title company will process it if they see a legal proceeding on the property.

It takes two people to initiate a contract, and two people to end it.
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so, if i understand you correct, even when we dont agree on the terms because some contingencies are not met, the seller can not accept another offer unless he returns my EDM first, which effectively ends our contract ?


(and i understand you are writing from NE and im reading in MI so things may be different)
 
And as always-the devil is in the details. I’m not a real estate agent/lawyer but I have bought and sold and found that contracts differ
 
You can't complete the deal at the original price, seller won't come down to appraised level. Stalemate.
Just cut bait and move on. Get the releases done, EMD back and find a different place if possible. Kick your agent in the tail to get it done and over with.

He can receive as many offers to buy as he likes.

If you sent a written counter offer based on the lower appraisal and seller refused, the deal may be dead right there. Don't know if MI RE forms have language regarding refusing an offer, likely does.

If your intent is to lock the guy up in a dead deal out of spite, don't bother. You have no "damages" at this point. Sucks the deal fell through.
 
crackedback said:
If your intent is to lock the guy up in a dead deal out of spite, don't bother..
Click to expand...

definitely not

i am trying to get a read on him, and figure out where are with the negotiations

i understand he has a number in mind and selling this property is probably not his end goal
for me, getting it isnt my end goal

so i understand we each have other plans and this property is simply a step along the way

what i dont like, is to be jerked around
so, i just want to know if he is blowing smoke (with his talk about other offers) or if hes trying work out a deal with someone else while still on the table with me
 
In my opinion, you have no contact. One of the contingencies in your contact should have been financing which the bank won’t approve due to the lower appraised value. Your options should be to either come up with the difference in cash and go ahead with the sale or mutually dissolve the contact and get your earnest money back. In the case of dissolving your contact you might get lucky and the seller might drop his price depending on how badly he needs to sell the property. Frankly, I’m not sure why you’re not discussing this with your Agent rather than on this Forum.
 
If the guy is jerking you around it might come back to bite him...Hopefully it will, lol.

When I was an agent in Virginia Beach, I listed a house after doing an exhaustive market survey. The seller pushed and pushed for a 10K higher listing price. Guess what? The appraisal came in at exactly what I said the house was worth. The seller was bummed but he sold the house at the appraisal price.

Neat thing about the house is it had an inground Swim Spa and the buyer was an Aviation Rescue Swimmer.
 
the primary control over the contract are the financing terms. read it thoroughly, it will tell you your rights, as your agent should have explained to you.In every state I know of, it takes two people to Initiate a contract, and two people to cancel a contract.
Your lender can either deny your loan and cancel the deal, or transfer it to another lender at your request. If you did that, the seller has no choice but to wait for you to request another appraisal.this scenario is why the seller would be wise to cancel the deal now,,,,The dates on a contract are approximate in every state.
 
Your state should have a real estate commission.

They have guidelines for what happens and when in all phases of transactions and potential transactions.

In FL, IIRC the earnest money is to be returned "in an acceptable timeframe".
Of course that's vague. I'm not sure if there's a :not to exceed...".

I had an issue a long time ago, and I wrote to FREC. I believe their guidance was 30 days.
 
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