Sounds like foreclosure is in the future for this property.
house dilemma with the sellers
- Thread starter Cutehumor
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Wow! That's not good! Get an attorney now. Don't wait. File papers against both agents and both home owners. And maybe the lender.... You have stepped into a real barrel of legal snakes. No matter what the outcome is, there will be major financial hits for everyone involved in this sale. You need to fire the first shots.
The reason the realtor is telling you not to get an attorney is because he has some exposure on this one. Both realtors should have noticed by the amount owed on the house and the sales price that it would be a short sale, and you should have been notified a long time ago. This is way to late to start talking to the bank - it should have been done long ago.
It remains to be seen if the sellers can afford to pay any judgement you get against them. Regardless, you may have a situation where one or both realtors have breached their fiducary duty to you. Only an attorney can tell you if that is the case, based upon the law in your state.
Find an attorney who specializes in real estate. A consultation won't cost you much. Only then will you know if you have a cause of action against the sellers or the agents.
It remains to be seen if the sellers can afford to pay any judgement you get against them. Regardless, you may have a situation where one or both realtors have breached their fiducary duty to you. Only an attorney can tell you if that is the case, based upon the law in your state.
Find an attorney who specializes in real estate. A consultation won't cost you much. Only then will you know if you have a cause of action against the sellers or the agents.
I'm surprised that the realtor wasn't told that it was a short sale. Usually they put that right in the description of the house up for sale. I see a ton of short sales in this market right now, but they are clearly marked.
Usually short sale buyers are bringing cash, and a lot of it. The banks don't want to mess with waiting on financing.
In New York, the mortgage company would have made the buyer get title insurance on the property, and that would have covered their loss against weird liens on the property, but I do not know if it would have covered from the short.
Usually short sale buyers are bringing cash, and a lot of it. The banks don't want to mess with waiting on financing.
In New York, the mortgage company would have made the buyer get title insurance on the property, and that would have covered their loss against weird liens on the property, but I do not know if it would have covered from the short.
I talked to the VP loan officer at our mortgage company today. he said he was going to get the real estate lawyer at the title company to submit a letter to the seller threatening legal action for "specific performance" if they don't close this Friday. Somebody is definitely at fault here, it's either the seller agent for not giving an accurate closing statement to the seller, my agent not being on the ball, or the seller trying to get out of this contract or this could be some kind of scheme to get me to up my purchase price. I won't really find out anything until Monday when the banks open.
I'll leave you guys some photos of the house that I *did* buy. these are the seller's furnishings of course
I'll leave you guys some photos of the house that I *did* buy. these are the seller's furnishings of course
At this stage of the game, getting legal help involved is a must. Someone has truly dropped the ball and seriously misrepresented something - potentially the selling agent. Ethically, the selling agent could not have posted the house for the price you signed a contract for if the sellers had represented their finances honestly up front. One of the first things a realtor does is work out a good faith effort of what they think your house is worth, add in approximate fees, and look at what you owe to determine a net for closing. Right then and there the sellers and agent should have known it was short sale and advertised as such.
Even with your loan officer and title company working in the background, get your own legal representation lined up now. They are looking out for their interest which may or may not be yours.
Best of luck...
Even with your loan officer and title company working in the background, get your own legal representation lined up now. They are looking out for their interest which may or may not be yours.
Best of luck...
Argh, ArrestmeredZ is right, +1
I expect a bluff right up to the 11th hour on 4/30, knowing about this tax credit. Just like car dealers were salivating over C4C.
OTOH once May-day rolls around, the bank will call you, hey, do you still want the house?
I expect a bluff right up to the 11th hour on 4/30, knowing about this tax credit. Just like car dealers were salivating over C4C.
OTOH once May-day rolls around, the bank will call you, hey, do you still want the house?
One other thing. The house has to be under contract by 4/30. You've already met this deadline. I believe you still have a month to close and still get the tax credit.
Nice pad!
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I talked to the VP loan officer at our mortgage company today. he said he was going to get the real estate lawyer at the title company to submit a letter to the seller threatening legal action for "specific performance" if they don't close this Friday. Somebody is definitely at fault here, it's either the seller agent for not giving an accurate closing statement to the seller, my agent not being on the ball, or the seller trying to get out of this contract or this could be some kind of scheme to get me to up my purchase price. I won't really find out anything until Monday when the banks open.
I'll leave you guys some photos of the house that I *did* buy. these are the seller's furnishings of course
Wow!! Is there hard wood under the carpeted rooms?
I talked to the VP loan officer at our mortgage company today. he said he was going to get the real estate lawyer at the title company to submit a letter to the seller threatening legal action for "specific performance" if they don't close this Friday. Somebody is definitely at fault here, it's either the seller agent for not giving an accurate closing statement to the seller, my agent not being on the ball, or the seller trying to get out of this contract or this could be some kind of scheme to get me to up my purchase price. I won't really find out anything until Monday when the banks open.
I'll leave you guys some photos of the house that I *did* buy. these are the seller's furnishings of course
Wow!! Is there hard wood under the carpeted rooms?
I'm not an expert, but I'd say YOUR agent is 100% at fault here.
You hired him to do a job for you - to find a house to buy, and that includes all the 'major details' about the house he is helping you buy. He would know enough to look out for red flags, and find out situations like this one.
He didn't do his job, plain and simple - he'd be No. 1 on my hit list at this point.
You hired him to do a job for you - to find a house to buy, and that includes all the 'major details' about the house he is helping you buy. He would know enough to look out for red flags, and find out situations like this one.
He didn't do his job, plain and simple - he'd be No. 1 on my hit list at this point.
When I sold my last house, they tried playing a similar game on the day of the walk through. I told the agent who was spiltting 4% commission, 50/50 with the owner of the agency to eat $750 or lose the sale. He looked at me like I had two heads, and I told him I was as serious as a heart attack. I said I would rent the house to someone before I shelled out $750, and I didn't care one way or the other. Funny thing was the broker, agent, and buyer ate the $750. SCREW THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I came to understand when I bought my first house that Real Property Agents are MUCH WORSE than Used Car Salesmen.
I bet you are in love with this house; I would be too!
I am surprised that your agent/attorney had not done the homework to find the existing mortgage and had not got the final payoff figures. If they did, it would have been obvious whether it was short sale or not.
- Vikas
I am surprised that your agent/attorney had not done the homework to find the existing mortgage and had not got the final payoff figures. If they did, it would have been obvious whether it was short sale or not.
- Vikas
I had an hour long conversation with my agent this morning. He denies any wrong doing of course. He said he can't contact the seller period. Everything has to go through their agent. He said that when he is selling a house that he sits down with the seller to go over their finances and gives them a ballpark figure of how much money they will need at closing. At that point, they should have known this was a short sale. He said the seller agent did not do this process with the sellers at all! !@#$ My agent is heavily discouraging me from suing the sellers b/c they are "insolvent" if the short sale is approved. how do I know that? he said I would be throwing "good money after bad" He told me not to get too emotional or personal about this. He is have a lawyer at the title company to send a "specific performace" threat to the sellers that they have to close or will face legal action.
If I did not close, I would have lost my $5k earnest money to the sellers. they do not close, I get nothing but lose possibly 20k??
If I did not close, I would have lost my $5k earnest money to the sellers. they do not close, I get nothing but lose possibly 20k??
Another vote to talk to a real estate attorney sooner rather than later. Get advice as to whether the first step to send a specific performance letter is good enough to start and have him discuss a second or third step in the process.
Your buyer's agent may be right that suing is throwing more good money after bad, so ask the real estate attorney an average cost of suing the sellers, because you will need to pay his fees and expenses to do so. It may yield you nothing other than a judgement against the sellers. A further step would be be enforce the judgement if they don't pay and you foot those expenses also.
Also verify if you must close by 30 Apr, or continue to be under contract NLT 30 Apr with a close as late as 30 days' later.
I would also look at other houses and see if I can choose one that qualifies for your credits. It shouldn't be too hard to cut bait on this one if they can't guarantee a 30 Apr closing date today. The attorney can advise you on this, too.
If you don't have to close by 30 April, your options widen.
Your buyer's agent may be right that suing is throwing more good money after bad, so ask the real estate attorney an average cost of suing the sellers, because you will need to pay his fees and expenses to do so. It may yield you nothing other than a judgement against the sellers. A further step would be be enforce the judgement if they don't pay and you foot those expenses also.
Also verify if you must close by 30 Apr, or continue to be under contract NLT 30 Apr with a close as late as 30 days' later.
I would also look at other houses and see if I can choose one that qualifies for your credits. It shouldn't be too hard to cut bait on this one if they can't guarantee a 30 Apr closing date today. The attorney can advise you on this, too.
If you don't have to close by 30 April, your options widen.
Your agent is feeding you a line of [censored]......The seller is the least exposed here imo. The people to sue are your agent, the listing agent and your own loan officer. They arent insolvent and all of them should have informed you of this situation long ago. They dropped the ball, not the seller. They are telling you not to sue, because they know they have exposure here.
Kestas
Staff member
Your agent didn't do his homework and didn't tell you all the risks as previous posters pointed out. As I understand it, short sales are done routinely, but the final blessing needs to come from the seller's mortgagee, and is often dependant on the final negotiated price. There should be (or should have been) such a clause in the agreement. This way, you could've decided for yourself if it's worth pursuing this sale by investing money into inspections and appraisals, and rearranging your life for this purchase. Your realtor really goofed.
At this point, this makes the koi pond issue rather miniscule!
[rant] To go a little off topic, It really frosts me how some realtors can charge 4%, 5%, 6%, or sometimes even 7% to broker a sale. That's often 6% of a person's entire wealth. I know how hard I work for that kind of money. I just don't see realtors working that hard for that kind of money, especially Cutehumor's agent. We're basically paying 6% of our wealth just to get our houses listed into a computer database! [/rant]
At this point, this makes the koi pond issue rather miniscule!
[rant] To go a little off topic, It really frosts me how some realtors can charge 4%, 5%, 6%, or sometimes even 7% to broker a sale. That's often 6% of a person's entire wealth. I know how hard I work for that kind of money. I just don't see realtors working that hard for that kind of money, especially Cutehumor's agent. We're basically paying 6% of our wealth just to get our houses listed into a computer database! [/rant]
Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
Nice pad!
I agree, it looks nice with many, many expensive looking furnishings.
Maybe the sellers would have been better off getting out from under their upside-down mortgage situation rather than fritter money away on pricy furnishings. I bet they had a couple new cars in the garage too.
I know people like this and don't understand their thinking. New house, new car, tons of nice stuff, vacations, etc. No money in the bank, a mailbox full of bills, and one paycheck away from serious financial ruin.
Nice pad!
I agree, it looks nice with many, many expensive looking furnishings.
Maybe the sellers would have been better off getting out from under their upside-down mortgage situation rather than fritter money away on pricy furnishings. I bet they had a couple new cars in the garage too.
I know people like this and don't understand their thinking. New house, new car, tons of nice stuff, vacations, etc. No money in the bank, a mailbox full of bills, and one paycheck away from serious financial ruin.
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