Home buyer newbie. [Update]

[NoShangriLa]

There is a house that I'm interested on purchasing, but I'm not sure if it is worth the headaches.

1 -- I viewed potential house with realtor.

2 -- I drove by 2 days later and for sale sign is not on the lawn. Knock on seller house to find out if it is sold or not. Seller said that it is delisted from mls because contract has expired. Seller agreed for a viewing after I asked to view house again if owner interested on selling it. Seller told me that the price is 20K more than the mls print out. Seller indicated he doesn?t want any agent involve.

3 -- I?m very interested in the house and didn?t want to cut my realtor out of the deal because she originally showed me the house, but I don?t want to let the deal slip & I don?t have any obligation to the agent because I didn?t sign any contract.

4 -- A week latter seller & I verbally agree on a selling price that match the city tax assessment price is 39K less than his original list price and is 9K lower than the mls final list price with out agent involve.

5 -- I had my lawyer drawn out the bid/term/purchase contract with out realtor beneficial and fax it to the seller lawyer office.

6 -- I later found out though my sister that there is a holdover clause that generally add an additional 60 days after a listing contract is over to protect the selling & buying realtor.

7 -- I called the seller and told him that he have to pay the realtors because of the holdover clause and he told me to wait 60 days, and he wanted to deal with me because he has told another potential buyer to move on as he was working with me.


The dilemma is that I like the house because it is centrally located, very close to my office & my gf work, and the house price is great. But, I?m worry of the complication.

Shall I move on because this deal is a legal nightmare or should I wait till the expriation date of the holdover clause?

Thank you all.

 

[mugs]

Seller sounds like a real class act

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: mugs
Seller sounds like a real class act

Seller told me that the listing contract is for 90 days, and I first saw it on 105 or 115 days with my realtor.

Seller also indicated that he wasn't happy that his realtor drops the listing price by 20K 2 days before I viewed the house. And, the weird thing is that the realtor took the sign off the lawn immediately after I viewed the house.

 

[chairbornrangerx]

when dealing with that much money and a potential burden, I'd say keep looking, it probably won't be worth the headache and potential legal ramifications.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Ask a real-estate attorney what the ramifications of such a deal would be.

If none, no worries.

If there are issues, ask the attorney the best way to work around them.

 

[DrPizza]

I tend to think the seller was dissatisfied with his realtor and doesn't want the realtor to get a commission for the sale.
Thus, since the realtor showed the house to you, he has to wait 60 days or whatever it is before accepting a purchase offer from you. Otherwise, the realtor is entitled to the commission. If you're willing to wait 60 days, I'd say go for it. Perhaps you can negotiate (verbally) a deal whereby the seller will only raise the price by 15k, since the realtor is no longer involved... you both win that way. You pay 5k less, and he makes at least that much more by not having to pay a commission.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

You're off the hook with your realtor if you never signed contract. So no worries there. A buyer's agent who doesn't get a signed contract is little more than an helpful freind until a deal is made.


The seller is in a different situation. Listing contracts usually have a clause in them to protect the realtor from getting sandbagged by a seller. You viewed the house with your own realtor but while the house was on the MLS and under contract with the listing realtor.

Again, you're off the hook because you didn't sign a contract with the listing agent either. But your seller might be liable for the commission to the former listing agent. If the listing agent finds out that the seller sold the house to someone who had viewed the house while the agent was under contract to sell the house he might be able to take legal action.

However, if the listing expired, the seller might be off the hook. (Unless the realtor can prove that he colluded with you to wait until the listing expired to make the deal, which would be hard to prove since you first saw the house the day before the listing expired)

I'd spend a few bucks and consult a RE lawyer first, but it sounds like you could buy the house with no consequence to yourself. The seller might be in a pickle. But the realtor would have to be able to prove bad faith on the part of the seller. Even if he could prove it, you're probably still OK as the agent will go after the proceeds paid to the seller from the sale of the house.

 

[NoShangriLa]

No more headache, because the GF & I signed a contract this afternoon pending inspection & financing with our realtor on a house that is 40K more than the headache house.

If everything goes well we will get the keys on Nov 10 for the house that is only 5 minutes walk to the beach and is next to a 450 acre park.

Thanks everyone for the replies.