Seller Changes his mind a week into Escrow!

[San Diego Real Estate]

I know I will get a lot of feed back with this! Ok you have an accepted offer and have opened Escrow for about a week Seller decides he doesn't want to sell! What options does everyone have at this point?

[HHI Golf Guy]

If you are under contract the seller can be sued for damages including commissions. The buyer may also sue for any damages. Depending upon your state laws, you and/or the buyer can also sue for punitive damages.

The question is - do you really want to do that? I guess that may hing upon whether or not you had a buyer client or seller client.

[VegasMack]

I’m not sure about California, but in Missouri your commission is earned when you present a ready willing and able buyer. This has been tested repeatedly in the courts.

The Buyer can also sue for performance in Missouri.

Like HHI Golf Guy says, it depends on just how far you want to take it.

~VegasMack

[Shimmer]

HHI he is right..... totally..........

[sac23]

If a RWA buyer is produced, seller has to sell or as HHI says get sued.

[Paso Dog]

With the buyers, it all comes down to just how badly they want that property they have the right sue but do they want to go through the legal battles.

[Nickie]

I was in this situation once. The buyer really wanted to buy and the seller really did not want to sell.

The seller did have have an out in that when we listed the property, he made it contingent upon the seller finding a suitable home of choice and a concurrent close of Escrow. The buyer very patiently extended the Escrow for an incredibly long time hoping the seller would finally give up and just sell. But eventually the buyer gave out and they agreed to cancel the Escrow.

A year later, when the seller was really ready to move, he called me back, we listed it again and sold it quickly, once again. We found his new home of choice (one hour closer to his business) and so it was done.

But if the seller had not stated the seller's contingencies from the get go, he definitely would have had problems cancelling with the first buyer. I'm really grateful we had covered all the bases for him in that regard. A lot of heartache saved.

[Paso Dog]

Do you use the sellers contingency as a rule or was it used to fit your sellers needs.

[Nickie]

No, not as a rule.

In this situation, the seller had specific criteria he wanted in his new home. He loved the home we was selling, but it was just way too far from his business and the travel time was keeping him away from his family.

So he did not want to give up the amenities the current home offered him, but he definitely wanted to add the benefit of being close to work. We knew that was going to be tough to find, so we made the sale contingent on the home of choice and concurrent close of Escrow.

In general, it is usually easier for a seller to sell the home when they do not have these type of contingencies, just as typically it is easier to buy a property when a buyer doesn't make his purchase contingent upon a successful and concurrent close with the sale of a property, but the transaction has to work for both buyer and seller.

So having these contingencies in place protects the buyer and seller by having the cards out on the table so everyone knows where everyone is coming from and what they need to have happen to get the transaction closed smoothly. At least that has been my experience.

[Paso Dog]

Thank you for the information I thought it would be because of your sellers criteria.

[543LISTguy]

Thanks for asking that question Paso...you beat me to it. I have never encountered a sellers contingency such as that...but i am new to all this so what do i know?

[Thesa]

regardless of the outcome someone has spent a lot of time for nothing - the real bummer is the loss time... I actually had this happen just today - lucky for me the seller changed his mind at the time the offer was presented.