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My husband and I are in the process of trying to buy our first home in New Jersey. We found a house that we loved and our offer was accepted. Fast-forward to the week of closing. We were set to close on Friday, October 24th. I refused to let myself get excited because I've heard some horror stories about the whole process but on Tuesday of that week, we got final approval from our lender and I figured we were in the clear. On Thursday morning, we got a call from our attorney saying that the seller owes more on the property than he thought and he can't afford to close. The following Monday, we found out the property is now a short sale subject to bank approval. We managed to get a rate lock extension at no cost to us and we do really love the house, so we decided to stick it out for a bit longer. I should also note here that we were renters at the time and had to be out of our apartment at the end of October. Our belongings have all had to go into storage, our animals have had to be sent to a family member's home, and my husband and I are staying with another family member for the time being. Yesterday, we received a letter from the seller requesting an extension to February 28th, 2015 for the close date. We decided we've had enough and cancelled the deal.
I guess what I'm trying to find out is if it's possible to get back any of the money we've wasted throughout this entire process. We never would have looked twice at this property had we been aware that it was a short sale, it's just not something we want to get involved with. Between attorney fees, the appraisal, the inspection and the land survey, we spent almost $3000 and since we had to move out of our apartment, we've spent almost an additional $1000 on moving/storage/transportation expenses.
If anyone has any advice or experience with a situation like this, I would love to hear it! Thanks!
I wonder what Feb 28 is. The seller didn't back off his required date when you said you'd cancel?
The letter just states that they wish to extend the close date to get approvals for the short sale. As of now, we haven't heard back from the seller regarding our decision to terminate the contract.
Umm, maybe hire a realtor next time? I'm betting they would have told you it was a short sale. . .
I have a realtor. It wasn't originally a short sale. As I stated in my original post, the seller was suddenly unable to close the day before closing and the following business day we were informed that it was now a short sale.
You're not going to get any better advice than to contact an attorney who can walk you through exactly what your options are. You could possibly recoup some of your money spent due to the owner's failure to perform, but the cost for pursuing through legal means might outweigh what you actually receive. Long and short of it, unless you can find proof of seller/agent deliberately withholding this information and intentionally setting out to deceive, this is just an unfortunate situation that occurred to you. Stinks but sometimes s**t happens.
I suppose you could offer to pay the seller's mortgage holder the shortage amount at closing. Depending on how much that is and how much you love the house. . . . just sayin'. That would make them, and their bank happy. Can't see why anyone (other than you--depending on the amount) would complain. That simply raises your purchase price when it's all said and done. . .
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