Our offer was accepted on a house but the contract isn't signed. Is the purchase price still negotiable?
A2AReal estate is weird.What you have is actually a tentative acceptance of the offer.The offer isn’t accepted until it’s signed by both of you and there’s a contract, and, at least in California, that’s not even technically a contract until there’s an exchange of consideration; this is usually called “earnest money” on the part of the buyer.It’s entirely possible, at this point, for someone else to come in with an all cash offer, taking the property “As Is”, etc., and scoop the deal out from under you.Even if you’ve put down earnest money — that’s consideration on your part, but not on the part of the seller. So you can’t get out, if the seller doesn’t want you to, at that point — but the seller can still wiggle out of the agreement.What all this means is, it’s not actually a deal until it goes into escrow, and it’s not a “done deal” until escrow closes.This is what it looks like, simplified, and as a protocol diagram:← Seller offers for sale→ Buyer makes offer← Seller accepts offer→ Buyer puts down earnest money (buyer is now partially committed)→ Buyer inspects property→ Buyer lists things that seller must fix and/or which impact bid price(renegotiation happens here)← Seller agrees (or rejects buyer, and returns earnest money)(contract is signed here)→ Buyer puts forward down payment in escrow (buyer utterly committed)(acceptance of which commits seller)Property enters escrowEscrow closes(sale actually happens here)The deal can pretty much fall apart anywhere before the last step, and if it does, how it does will determine whether or not the earnest money disappears or gets refunded.You should have your own representation advising you on this.If this is your first deal, you should definitely have a buyer’s real estate agent handling your end of things, and I would strongly recommend a real estate attorney to look over all disclosures and contracts — every step of the way.After you’ve done one deal, you are maybe qualified to handle the next one on your own (but with the attorney; always with the attorney), but I would not necessarily take off the training wheels by not having a buyer’s real estate agent, at least until you understand the things that commonly go wrong in the area (termites are a big one, in the San Francisco Bay Area).
Buying a house- already signed my part of the contract however why isn't the sellerhat would you like to ask?
I found a house I love in brooklyn and the seller/real estate agent accepted our offer and sent my attorney a contract already. I spoke to the sellers real estate agent and he told me to get an inspection done and move forward with the contract and preaproval which we did already. Well we signed the contract and sent it back to our lawyer including our earnest deposit check (for 5% of the purchase price). Its been over 3 weeks and the seller still has not signed it yet. there is always some excuse such as hes too busy working, didn't have time to meet with his attorney, etc, someone was sick in the family. etc What is going on?? When asked what is up with the sellers he says they havent gotten around to meeting with their attorney but he claims he is not showing the house to anyone else and that in his books the house is mine. Should i threaten to withdraw if they dont sign in the next week? If they don't want to sell the house to us, why make us go through with it all?
Signed Contracts on House Sale?
You are more or less correct. Technically there is one contract but it is in two (identical) parts, one signed by the buyer and one by the seller. The fact that you have signed means nothing. Your solicitor is merely ensuring he is prepared to exchange as soon as everything is in place. Similarly, he has asked you to sign the transfer deed so he has it ready (btw, even if your house was unregistered the solicitor would still use exactly the same document). When YOU and the buyer are ready to exchange (your solicitor will confirm this with you in advance, AND they will speak to you on the day to confirm you are still happy to proceed) then your solicitors will have a telephone conversation in which they agree to exchange contracts. The contract will be dated, the completion date will be agreed and entered onto the contract, and the deposit will be agreed. The transaction become binding at this point. The solicitors will then post the parts of the contract they are holding to each other, so the buyer's solicitor receives the part signed by the seller, and vice versa. Technically, the deposit money should also be sent from the buyer's solicitor to the seller's. Sometimes this does happen, but usually they agree to "hold it to order" so the buyer's solicitor keeps hold of it, but the seller's solicitor can require (order) it to be paid to them at any time. Generally, all the work has been done prior to exchange. The buyer is committed after exchange, so they need to have completed all their investigations, and confirmed their funding arrangements beforehand. However, just because you have signed, does not mean the solicitors are at this stage. It is very easy to agree the contract, as it is usually just a matter of confirming names, address, price, etc. But there could still be searches or other enquiries outstanding. Once exchange has happened, you will know when the completion date will be. It can be simultaneous, but it will usually be at least a week, because most mortgage lenders need that notice to provide funds. If there is a long chain the delay might be longer, simply because the completion date will usually be dictated by the person who needs to latest date, but to avoid the risk of the chain falling down, everyone will be keen to get contracts exchanged ASAP. Therefore the delay could be 4 or more weeks.
What is a good excuse to cancel a housing contract.?
I need to move out of the dorms so I want to cancel my contract and have them not charge me the $7000. I am not allowed to get this refund unless I have an extremely good reason that is out of my control. The truth is I cannot afford the dorms but that is not a good enough reason for them. Does anyone have any good suggestions as to a good reason that the university might consider to give me a full or partial refund. I would even take just a spring semester refund.
If I signed a real estate purchase contract then the seller's attorney made changes without my knowledge and had the seller sign, what could happen?
What could happens? Whatever change they made must have been for their own interest. If so, then you now have an excuse to get out of the contract.Did you use a Realtor? If so, ask him to raise this issue through his manager with the seller's brokerage. Also, you may want your lawyer review this as well.Rule of Contract states, once the contract has been accepted by both parties one CAN NOT alter the original contract in anyway. However, changes, ie completion date or even price, can be made using an addendum but both parties have to agree to it and sign the addendum in order to be valid.I'm your case, you need to resolve this asap. Talk to your lawyer right away. Good luck!Disclaimer : I'm not a lawyer nor an legal expert.
Buying a house - is it too late to get a Buyers' Realtor once the listing agent already showed us the house?
I am a first time homebuyer and I found a house online that I thought looked nice. I contacted the listing agent and she showed me the house. I have another appt with her to see the house again in a few days. I really like the house and think it might be the one I end up buying. The problem is that I think the listing agent has the sellers' best interests in mind; rather than mine. Would it be too late to contact a different realtor to show me the house a third time and be my buyers' realtor? Would they get a commission or does the listing agent get it when I found the house online myself? Thanks!