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I have about 20 lawyer friends in the DC area alone.....it's not hard to find a lawyer in DC. (I'm in the medical profession)
You will essentially be out $1k-5K in legal fees if you threaten to sue to close the deal.
And here's the kicker. Most legal advisors will tell you NOT to pursue legal action on the basis of sellers being "insolvent". It's sad. But that's just the way the law works in the US. It favors "poor" clients in civil matters because there is no money to go after. Now in a criminal case, the poor clients are screwed...but that's for another topic.
Now, if they had assets, just the threat of legal proceedings would somehow magically make that missing money appear out of the blue.
My best bet would be that the sellers have no money (or very little saved). Too many people in the US live way beyond their means.
Since you aren't packed and aren't in a hurry to move, set your emotion aside.
Threaten legal proceedings (don't even bother hiring a lawyer with the initial threat, with the intent of walking away from the contract, unless this was a tremendous deal you were getting.
You held up your end of the bargain. It's up to the seller and sellers agent to work out the money problems.
Actually in a case like this you could get punative damages, because the sellers committed fraud when they signed the contract of sale, knowing they couldn't afford to close. And you WILL be able to colelct, because if nothing else you can ask for a wage garnishment based on the the judgement you will get.
Hold firm, do NOT up your price. It's their problem, they are adults, let them figure it out.
And what on earth are you doing making possibly the biggest investment of your life without legal representation?
Uhhh, no.
Have you asked the agents if they would cut the commission to assist the deal in going through? Has anyone asked the seller's bank if they would take less to settle out the loan? Would the seller take an unsecured note from the bank for the $10K?
No. It's all just happened, but I'll ask all 3 and get back to you.
We just got a call from the sellers saying they got mad at their agent yesterday becoz he didnt warn them "about all this money" they were going to have to bring to closing. They told us to do nothing and ignore it. It sounded as though they're going to try to get their realtor to kick in something, but that they fully intend to close. Oh, and there was no estimate of costs done - he led them to believe it was going to be a wash.
Edit: I'm just happy we're getting this house now.
We just got a call from the buyers saying they got mad at their agent yesterday becoz he didnt warn them "about all this money" they were going to have to bring to closing. They told us to do nothing and ignore it. It sounded as though they're going to try to get their realtor to kick in something, but that they fully intend to close.
I thought you were the buyer?
Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and sell stuff, get cash advances, whatever...to complete your obligations to the contract.
What a mess... I think the easiest solution is for everone one invoved to come up with an extra $2500 and get down the road. If both the buyer and seller, plus both agents came up with this money it would cover the difference and no one would get beat up, this would certainly be option 1 for me.
One other person mentioned asking the bank to take less??? At this point asking for a short would certainly add 2-3 months to the transaction, (at least) not to mention the bank will not consider a short unless the home owners are in arrears on thier note so this would not be an option IMO.
Or step 3. the closing date comes, the sellers can't close and the buyer goes and gets a lawyer; as others have already mentioned this would not only be cumbersome to deal with both emotionally and monetarily, but at the end of the day you can't draw blood out of a turnip so it would more than likely be futile.
I go with option 1; why the two Realtors involved can't figure this out is beyond me and probably the real question here.
We just got a call from the sellers saying they got mad at their agent yesterday becoz he didnt warn them "about all this money" they were going to have to bring to closing. They told us to do nothing and ignore it. It sounded as though they're going to try to get their realtor to kick in something, but that they fully intend to close. Oh, and there was no estimate of costs done - he led them to believe it was going to be a wash.
Edit: I'm just happy we're getting this house now.
They should be mad at their agent. As part of my CMA I do a seller net sheet based on potential sales prices.
I'm interested to see if the listing agent cuts his commission. The agent would get nothing otherwise. When you have clients that are that close to the edge, you have to constantly run money scenarios for them to make sure they can close.
And what on earth are you doing making possibly the biggest investment of your life without legal representation?
You're right. We're the classic know too much for our own good types and think we don't need one. This will be about our 8th house. We're also about to buy a foreclosure - again no lawyer...
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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LOL A double sided transaction where the listing and selling agent are from the same brokerage. The seller (and his lender, if they have maybe a gram of sense between them) should freaking run away from this transaction at the fastest speed possible and close it. Having said that, that would require a bank that doesn't have an idiot at the asset manager controls
What do I know? Good luck in any case
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. (I'm in the medical profession)
