The Villages Real Estate
 

We just recently bought a newly constructed home in the T.V.. We were told that once you commit thereis no getting your money back. Like most our feet got a little cold, but the sizeable "non-refundable" deposit kept us from changing our mind. We then proceeded to list our old house with with the villages real estate. Since then three buyers have backed out and all of them have gotten their escrow money back. Buyer #1 backed out based on they couldn't qualify for financing. Even though we offered them owner financing at the same terms the bank was going to give had they qualified. Buyer 2# backed out for no reason, they countered our asking price and we accepted their counter and they just walked away from the deal with their escrow. Buyer3#Loved the house, took videos and pictures,looked at it several times with their kids. We proceeded with the home inspection, what minor things were found were fixed immediately, and because they wanted it just the way it was, turnkey, we accepted their offer and proceeded to buy all new furnishing for our new house. Now 10 days before the closing they are walking away based on the appraisal,which appraised out exactly what we had agreed upon. We even offerd two more options to keep the deal alive and they just walked away. They still have money in escrow and I am not so willing to sign off on giving it back. Has anyone got advice or expereinced something lke this before? P.S. please don't refer to the legal thread I've already been there and no help.

Hire your own attorney
 

In a lot of home sales, hiring an attorney is not necessary, but in this case it may be worth your while to do that.

Deposit
 

If your entitled to it - keep it!

I am a little confused.....
 

Are you talking about The Villages resale part or The Villages Relocation service where they suggest a couple of realtors in your area?

I am not clear if your home is here in The Villages or in some other area of the country,

If your facts are as stated and you adhered to all provisions in the offer contract, and you used the "standard" offer agreement format you are entitled to the deposit. Take it!! You lost the opportunity for exposure to other qualified buyers, the time value of interest, and your time was wasted on unqualified buyers. :rant-rave: If I remember the form correctly, your agent also gets a piece of the action, so you are still out some money.
As an aside, it doesn't seem that your agent is very skilled at bringing you qualified prospects or at closing deals; I was not there, just my opinion.

The house we are selling is in the villages and we listed it with a resale agent. The gray area is they don't have to take our option to have owner financing even though on the contract it only says Lender, which we are being told that implies conventiol. We offered the sames terms they agreed on in the sales contract, but the gray area is apparently they don't have to consider us as "the lender".
DG

fl
 

I thought the same as above quote cause that is the way in NE. We recently sold a village hs and based upon both a village rep aand an mls rep that IS not the FL law. They can back out for any reason. Then goes to court and during this court wait time u can not sell your hs. Then if u win in court u will be lucky to keep 25% of their deposit. That is what we were told as i said by two realtors.

Cash buyer
 

How badly would you like a cash buyer? Are YOU under any obligation to sell to any previous offer?

None of my business, just inquisitive.

Thank you.

Ten years ago I had a buyer back out of a home sale for no good reason, and I let my realtor convince me that I shouldn't keep the earnest money. That still irks me today and I regret not pushing back. A deal is a deal, and if you held up your end of the bargain and the other party backed out for reasons not covered by the contract, you should keep the money. JMHO.

Hutch,
We are fortunate that we do not need abuyer at all. We can rent it out, let it sit, or just wait for the right buyer to come along. We open to about anything that is fair and a win/win for all parties concerned. And of "course cash is King"
DG

I think a settlement is order. We lost aprecious month of not having it on the market. We incurred many expenses in those 30 days and they could have notified us a week aago they had no intentions of going through with the agreement. With 10K at stake I don't think 3k would be unreasonable.
Thoughts?

I'm missing something. If they put up earnest money, it was not contingent on the appraisal (or something else that didn't pan out) and they backed out of the deal, the money is rightfully yours, as best I understand. It doesn't make sense for you to have to be out time and money every time you take your house off the market in exchange for earnest money, and a buyer renigs.

Otherwise, what exactly is earnest money? I'm always for doing the right thing! But if earnest money was provided, retaining it for your expenses and time loss is the right thing to do. What am I missing?

If all contigencies have been met you get to keep the earnest money if the buyer backs out. However, we learned the key is in how the offer is written/accepted. Some agents write them in such a way that the buyer can easily exit the deal. When we sold our house this summer, we had a good agent that made sure our counter offer removed these vague options for backing out.

lvmypug,
Good advice! thanks all for the other feed back! It's back on the market, maybe the 4th time will be the charm.
DG

Changing ones mind
 

As a inactive Realtor, let me explain what happened. First, all contracts have a financing clause. If the buyer can't get financing at a rate that is on the contract, they walk. Second, there is a inspection clause also. If the house doesn,t pass inspection due to whatever,(color of walls) they walk. It bewilders me that when a buyer sighns a offer on a piece of property, they go right back out there looking at other houses.This is one reason I no longer sell Real Estate. Dealing with the goofballs like you have dealt with just wears you down.--Good luck with your quest:confused:

Billyworld
I here ya! The inspection was done and all issues/repairs were made within two days, all minor things. Second, we offered them the exact same terms they requested on the otp. The gray area is whether or not we are considered the "Lender". The contract does not specifally say they "Lender" has to be a conventional bank. It also does not say we can't be considered the "lender".
The buyers were aware the whole time that owner financing was an option.. They just got cold feet and we just get @#$%#@.
DG

Where is the property and is it still for sale? What model home?

I'm not sure how it is in Florida but in my experience, yes, you should be entitled to keep the earnest money deposit, however, if the purchaser refuses to give it up, you can get tied up in litigation which will prevent you from selling the home to another buyer. On top of that, if you pay an attorney to fight for you, what are you gaining? There is, of course, a degree of satisfaction but the reality is, it may cost you more in the long run. I don't blame you for being mad, I would be furious, but you have to step back and just look at the whole picture. Good luck! If you have had that much interest in your property it will definitely sell...and soon! Question...the three buyers...did they end up purchasing newly built homes instead?

Well the way I see it the buyers sales rep and the sellers sales rep both work for The Village Real Estate sales company. The buyer is going to buy a house and put money in the pocket of The Village Real Estate sales company. The Village Real Estate sales company does not want to alienate this customer by giving you his money and drive him/her into the arms of an MLS agent. It is better that the buyer buys a house and puts that money in The Village Real Estate sales company pocket rather than yours. I think not.

I say take the money and run son. Lower the price of the house by the amount of the deposit you retain.

In my opinion you have nobody representing you.

Have you thought about listing the house with an MLS agent instead of a villages sales rep, because MLS agents really do look out for your best interest. I would, and I am sure others would, recommend a good MLS agents.

The Village Real Estate sales company vs. MLS, last month using the numbers published in the Sun Real Estate pamphlet, I did the math and the results were the combined sales of new and pre owned homes for the past one year was equal to the sales offices being open 365 days a year for 9 hours a day sales would be greater than ONE home sold each hour.

The statics boasted of having greater sales than all combined sales offices in the area. The term MLS was not used. If I was going to sell I would have to go with TV. Of the three newest houses listed today one has a deal pending.

Exact reason I listed with The Villages.

The house is on Van Buren Way in Poicianna. It has been put back on the market. I agree with the whole lawyer thing, but sometimes you have to stand on principle. I suppose if we were to get a qualified buyer in the next few days we would probably release the funds. Technically we haven't even got the letter from their bank saying they would not give them the loan. We did get a letter from their attorney demanding their money be returned immediately and the irony is the bogus buyer hasn't even signed the release necessary to make the refund possible not to mention the letter from the bank.
DG

On second thought the figures I used were SALES figures not CLOSING figures. I have to ask, how many of the houses included in the sales figures sold 4 times and closed once?