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John E. Jaku-Hing
 
Posts: n/a
Default Advice to supplement my attorney trip today

Was wondering what one would do in this situation:

I have tried to sell my house in a 6 month (180 day) listing contract
with a broker. A potential buyer came around 5 months into the
listing. We negotiated back and forth repeatedly. They lowballed, I
countered slightly, they continued to try to lowball, I would budge.
Finally, they came to agreement on a price. However, the closing date
would be Nov. 12. Today is Oct. 23, and I got the contract yesterday,
signed by buyer (dated 10/22). Since there's basically no way in hell
these people can close a mortgage this quickly, wouldn't this contract
be a little bogus? Should I just go ahead with the contract and let
the buyer lose their deposit to me knowing they would never close in
the time allowed. I haven't signed the contract yet, but the buyer
has. I planned on going to an attorney today to review options, but
to save time "on the meter" with them, maybe there's some ideas I can
come up with ahead of time. At this point, I could care less whether
I keep or sell the house as I'm quite mad at broker's inability to get
contract right in the first place (e.g. the deposit amount is not what
was agreed to, and escrow holder field is left blank (?) ), but I want
the closing date to be hard and fast, and I will not want to budge
from it unless the buyer is willing to wait until January. I guess I
can:

1) Forget the contract (sounds risky, as broker may demand commission
b/c I didn't put effort to complete)
2) Have the attorney put in the strict closing date "or else" clause
(right now it says estimated)
3) Do nothing (no way, as the estimated is too vague and the buyer has
free reign to change closing date without penalty, putting me in a
precarious situation)

I am open to other suggestions as well, again to save time with the
attorney.

The crux of the matter comes in the following clause within the
listing contract:
"Owner expressly acknowledges and understands that the Commiision to
{broker} shall be earned upon delivery of a ready, willing, and able
buyer who makes an offer that meets the price and other conditions set
forth in this Agreement, including a full price offer."

The offer is not full price. Do you think I'm obligated to proceed,
prehaps make the strict demand of Nov. 12, and basically swipe their
deposit (play hardball)? By definition, if they missed the deadline,
they wouldn't be "able" to buy and I shouldn't owe the broker a dime
in commission. God knows they didn't deserve a penny thus far. BTW,
I am from NJ.