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Old 05-06-2012, 03:25 PM
 
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Hi-we are making an offer on a house-my realtor says she doesnt trust the other realtor not to sell it from beneath us even after they accept our offer. If we send in a binder, have an accepted offer, and have the inspection done within a matter of a couple of days-would most realtors do that? Do we then have any recourse to get our $$ back from the inspection?


When we were selling we had a higher offer come in before the contract was signed but we had agreed, the lawyers had spoken and we felt it would bite us in the *ss to do something like that. Fortunately, the buyer wound up backing out last minute and we got to take the higher offer anyway.
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Old 05-06-2012, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
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I don't know about there (don't know where you are), but here, once the contract (yes, it IS a contract) is signed, the seller is locked in unless the buyer backs out or breaches the contract in some way. The seller doesn't have to make requested repairs and the contract can go forward as written, and at that point the buyer can terminate the contract, but the seller can't.

But real estate law varies from place to place.
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Old 05-06-2012, 06:21 PM
 
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I am in NY-I am talking about if the inspection is done but the contract has not been signed yet-thats how it is mostly done here-inspection first, then contract-
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Old 05-06-2012, 07:16 PM
 
Location: Gilbert - Val Vista Lakes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amyla View Post
I am in NY-I am talking about if the inspection is done but the contract has not been signed yet-thats how it is mostly done here-inspection first, then contract-
I don't understand how there is an accepted offer without a signed contract.

If there is no contract, then unless NY has special laws dealing with that inspection period, then there is no contract. There could be something special that is unique to the NY Real estate laws. That is a question for your agent, who should know the law.
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Old 05-07-2012, 04:46 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Captain Bill View Post
I don't understand how there is an accepted offer without a signed contract.

If there is no contract, then unless NY has special laws dealing with that inspection period, then there is no contract. There could be something special that is unique to the NY Real estate laws. That is a question for your agent, who should know the law.

In NY generally, the realtor sends a binder with an offer-then the 2 realtors (with client input) negotiate. Once a deal is made, the buyer has an inspection. A lot of times buyers use the inspection to negotiate price-at least thats what seems to be going on the market here. Then you have the sellers attorney send the contract over. You c
an also sent contract contigent on the inspection-most do the inspection first without starting with the lawyers-

I know before contract is signed you legally have nothing but no one generally spends the $500-800 on inspection unless you have a verbal through the realtors-its more of a moral question than legal-thanks
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Old 05-07-2012, 06:10 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Generally either party can back out after the inspection. Depending on what's found the seller may not want to do the repairs that may be required by the buyer's lender or PMI provider. Even if the law doesn't allow the seller to get out of the deal all they have to do it refuse to pay for any repairs and the buyer will back out most of the time. They can then do the repairs or not and sell to the new higher priced buyer.
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Old 05-07-2012, 07:02 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,410,702 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Generally either party can back out after the inspection. Depending on what's found the seller may not want to do the repairs that may be required by the buyer's lender or PMI provider. Even if the law doesn't allow the seller to get out of the deal all they have to do it refuse to pay for any repairs and the buyer will back out most of the time. They can then do the repairs or not and sell to the new higher priced buyer.
Here, too, the seller can refuse to do the repairs (but will have to disclose the problems to any future buyer) and HOPE that the buyer will terminate, but they cannot simply back out of the contract without potential serious repercussions.

But, here, contracts are signed before the inspection is done, and we're not an attorney state, apparently unlike New York.
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Old 05-07-2012, 09:08 AM
 
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As always it depends on what the contract says. Most of the time there isn't a way for the seller to just cancel for no reason once there is a signed contract, but there are exceptions to this. For example almost every REO purchase I have seen includes an addendum that allows the seller to cancel at any time. I have yet to see it happen, but it is always part of it. Read your documents.
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Old 05-07-2012, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,545 posts, read 14,030,644 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amyla View Post
In NY generally, the realtor sends a binder with an offer-then the 2 realtors (with client input) negotiate. Once a deal is made, the buyer has an inspection. A lot of times buyers use the inspection to negotiate price-at least thats what seems to be going on the market here. Then you have the sellers attorney send the contract over. You c
an also sent contract contigent on the inspection-most do the inspection first without starting with the lawyers-

I know before contract is signed you legally have nothing but no one generally spends the $500-800 on inspection unless you have a verbal through the realtors-its more of a moral question than legal-thanks
We have a similar system here in MA. We have an offer contract (I guess in NY it's called a binder) and then after inspection items are negotiated we have a purchase and sale contract. Our Offer Contract (a/k/a binder in NY) is 100% a legal contract and is signed by the buyer and seller. Of course, if the buyer demands repairs and the seller refuses the transaction doesn't necessarily go any further than that. In MA, verbal agreement does not constitute a real estate contract. This is why we put pen to paper. After the offer is accepted, the seller cannot accept any other offers.
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Old 05-07-2012, 07:06 PM
 
Location: El Dorado Hills, CA
3,720 posts, read 10,000,687 times
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In CA real estate, a contract is not a contract unless it is in writing and signed by both parties. We normally wouldn't spend a penny on inspections until the contract is signed.
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