Help-need some expert real estate advice (Austin: real estate market, rental, mortgage)

[Tec2Tex]

I know the real estate market is on fire here...We have lived here renting for almost 2 yrs, and we are ready to buy. Listings are being snapped up in hours/days.
We are pre approved with the mortgage first program at Quicken Loans and everything is ready to go on our end.
We have lost out in bidding wars on a couple of places..even when offer 10K over asking price, and most sellers want you to waive the contingency on the appraisal which is another thing I dont care for....but here goes.

We finally found a place that had been on the market almost 3 weeks, put in an offer, 5k under asking, was countered back at full asking and we were willing to pay full asking and the sellers accepted...
We paid our earnest money/title company has the $2K in escrow everything seemed ok on Friday.
Get a call today that they now dont want to sell the house....I don't like the advice my agent is telling me..."o you should just let it go/wasn't meant to be!!!" Seriously...they signed a contract and had it on the market for almost 3 weeks before we came along...

What should I do now??

Any lawyers or real estate experts care to chime in? I am considering contacting a real estate attorney tomorrow.
I don't want to be a dick and feel like we are MAKING them move, but also dont want to lose out on a nice home that we liked....especially after losing out on 2 or 3 others in this market.

[TexasHorseLady]

The seller can't back out of the contract at this point, if you used the contract that is commonly used here rather than having an attorney write one up; the buyer has several outs in the contract, but not the seller. Given that your agent suggested you just let it go, I think your idea of contacting a real estate attorney for a read on it is a good one.

[lzydogrnch]

I believe you have need an attorney. Take Texashorselady's advice. Unfortunately, realtors refrain from legal advice. And sorry about yours.

[Trainwreck20]

Well, it is quite possible that they received some kind of indication that they could get more money for their house - another offer came in as 'back up' or something of the sort. So I would just assume that they 'decided not to sell' - they may be just trying to void a legitimate deal to get a better one that came along later.

[Tec2Tex]

Yes it is the regular contract that is commonly used here. He has advised us that it is our decision on whether or not to pursue it because we can actually force them to fulfill the contract.....however I cannot see it ending well for either party if we move forward. We don't know for sure, but have a feeling that their is some "marital issues" with the sellers...(you can tell a lot about someone you don't even know just by the look of the master bedroom). So our moral compass/karma seems to kick in and feel sorry for the family/4 kids involved. And in a situation like this the transaction is no doubt going to turn much less than amicable when it comes to any possible negotiation if there are appraisal issues down the road, etc...were talking about a 210k home not a 0.5 mil $ home.
I just get sick and tired of the same old "wasn't meant to be/we'll find a better one" attitude of our agent. We don't make home buying decisions lightly, and have gone to great lengths to make sure that we are not the ones that drop the ball when it comes to making a deal. Its one thing to lose a deal being outbid, but after you have confirmation of a signed deal and start planning and investing time into searching for appliances/floor coverings and paint colors. Gets annoying...first world problem I guess....we need to realize we are blessed that we have what we do. After the weather in Arkansas today some people don't have those 4 walls or a roof over their head to call their own.

[gpurcell]

Tell them you are willing to not enforce the contract if they agree to put 10K in escrow for a year that gets paid to you if they sell the house to another party!

[Restrain]

Realistically, if the sellers say no, the costs involved in pursuing legal action for 'specific performance' will be very high. Far more than you will want to spend. A simple lawsuit can run well into 5 digits. Also getting a judge to force them to sign is going to be very difficult, especially in Austin.

Just go try to find another home. And, yes, I am in the industry (40 years).

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Tec2Tex

Yes it is the regular contract that is commonly used here. He has advised us that it is our decision on whether or not to pursue it because we can actually force them to fulfill the contract.....however I cannot see it ending well for either party if we move forward. We don't know for sure, but have a feeling that their is some "marital issues" with the sellers...(you can tell a lot about someone you don't even know just by the look of the master bedroom). So our moral compass/karma seems to kick in and feel sorry for the family/4 kids involved. And in a situation like this the transaction is no doubt going to turn much less than amicable when it comes to any possible negotiation if there are appraisal issues down the road, etc...were talking about a 210k home not a 0.5 mil $ home.
I just get sick and tired of the same old "wasn't meant to be/we'll find a better one" attitude of our agent. We don't make home buying decisions lightly, and have gone to great lengths to make sure that we are not the ones that drop the ball when it comes to making a deal. Its one thing to lose a deal being outbid, but after you have confirmation of a signed deal and start planning and investing time into searching for appliances/floor coverings and paint colors. Gets annoying...first world problem I guess....we need to realize we are blessed that we have what we do. After the weather in Arkansas today some people don't have those 4 walls or a roof over their head to call their own.

I understand what you are saying, and I think you are probably looking at the situation 'correctly' (there is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of empathy); however, I would ask them to give you something like a first right of refusal if they do decide to sell in the next 6 months or year or whatever.

[Tec2Tex]

Yes I have to agree...not worth the fight. It is not a "dream home", but one that would functionally fit our situation well in that it is in our existing neighborhood, right price, close to school for the kids/no need to change schools and would get us out of having to rent/allow us to build some equity and maybe keep it as a rental and move again a few years down the road to our "dream home"..lol

Thank you everyone for the advice.