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.

(John E. Jaku-Hing) wrote in
om:

Was wondering what one would do in this situation:


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.


I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

First, it *is* possible to close that quickly. When I bought a house last
March, the time between writing the offer and closing (conventional
mortgage, 10% down) was 2 weeks.

Although it depends on the exact wording of the contract as well as real
estate law in NJ, I'd think that if the deal falls through because the
buyer can't meet the closing requirements, he would not be considered an
"able" buyer according the the clause you quoted. House deals fall through
all the time, and normally, the commission is only owed when the house
actually sells.

The clause you quoted is usually intended to protect the broker in the case
where they bring a valid offer on a house and the seller backs out of the
deal.

Yes, and if the deal falls through because the buyer couldn't qualify for the
loan, the buyer gets his earnest money back.

Pat

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 07:21:43 -0500, David W. wrote:
(John E. Jaku-Hing) wrote in
om:

Was wondering what one would do in this situation:


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.


I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

First, it *is* possible to close that quickly. When I bought a house last
March, the time between writing the offer and closing (conventional
mortgage, 10% down) was 2 weeks.

That was then, this is now. I know several people who have
tried to close in the past couple of months, and they're all missing their
dates. Banks are still tremendously overwhelmed with refi's, etc.
Everyone is exceeding their rate lock-in periods, etc. I know one
person who was told flat-out by a mortgage officer that his
mortgage application was being shelved, because it would take too long to process
before his close date expired.

"David W." wrote in message ...
(John E. Jaku-Hing) wrote in
om:

Was wondering what one would do in this situation:


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.


I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

First, it *is* possible to close that quickly. When I bought a house last
March, the time between writing the offer and closing (conventional
mortgage, 10% down) was 2 weeks.

Although it depends on the exact wording of the contract as well as real
estate law in NJ, I'd think that if the deal falls through because the
buyer can't meet the closing requirements, he would not be considered an
"able" buyer according the the clause you quoted. House deals fall through
all the time, and normally, the commission is only owed when the house
actually sells.

The clause you quoted is usually intended to protect the broker in the case
where they bring a valid offer on a house and the seller backs out of the
deal.

Considering the additional overhead involved in the FHA mortgage, I
think it is highly unlikely the buyer will complete the sale in that
small time frame. I suppose I will try to make with the house, and
take their money if they are unsuccessful in meeting the closing date
(my attorney assured me that this can be stipulated quite nicely).

In article , user wrote:
That was then, this is now. I know several people who have
tried to close in the past couple of months, and they're all missing their
dates. Banks are still tremendously overwhelmed with refi's, etc.
Everyone is exceeding their rate lock-in periods, etc. I know one
person who was told flat-out by a mortgage officer that his
mortgage application was being shelved, because it would take too long to process
before his close date expired.

It depends on what bank you use and how complex the loan is.
We're doing a conventional 20% down mortgage and the bank was
ready to close w/in 3 weeks, and we hadn't even had a pre-approval
when we made the offer. Of course, we're still going to blow
the rate-lock period because the seller can't get the house
ready for closing in time, but that has nothing to with getting
financing.

Elaine

(John E. Jaku-Hing) wrote in
m:

Considering the additional overhead involved in the FHA mortgage, I
think it is highly unlikely the buyer will complete the sale in that
small time frame. I suppose I will try to make with the house, and
take their money if they are unsuccessful in meeting the closing date
(my attorney assured me that this can be stipulated quite nicely).

FHA... ugh! In situations like yours, a lawyer is your best friend. I've
had my bacon saved more than once by carefully worded contracts that my
lawyer has drawn up in complicated real estate transactions.

Remember too that you can continue to market your house even if you accept
an offer.

"John E. My ****** jerking" wrote:

Considering the additional overhead involved in the FHA mortgage, I
think it is highly unlikely the buyer will complete the sale in that
small time frame. I suppose I will try to make with the house, and
take their money if they are unsuccessful in meeting the closing date

If they are ******s, it will probably work.

(my attorney assured me that this can be stipulated quite nicely).

Did you bath before you spoke to him?

"Nada, John" wrote in message ...
"John E. My ****** jerking" wrote:

Considering the additional overhead involved in the FHA mortgage, I
think it is highly unlikely the buyer will complete the sale in that
small time frame. I suppose I will try to make with the house, and
take their money if they are unsuccessful in meeting the closing date

If they are ******s, it will probably work.

WTF?


(my attorney assured me that this can be stipulated quite nicely).

Did you bath before you spoke to him?

Sure did.

"John E. jerking" wrote:

What's a ******s idea of foreplay?

"Don't scream or I'll cut you, bitch."