Putting an offer on a home........(law ?)

by love11 37 Replies latest social relationships

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  love11

  gary-

  I don't know what a sunset clause is. If we do have one- it wasn't worded that way.

  The offer will expire at 12pm this Sat.

  We signed a sales contract and I feel that the owner should have been given a chance to respond before we said that we weren't going to buy it. They may have flat out turned it down or counter offered and then we could have turned it down the right way.

  I feel that they may try to sue if the house doesn't sell. They could say we held up the house during prime selling time for them and before they could respond we broke the deal.
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  love11

  e-

  She hasn't e-mailed us yet. But she's told us verbally that their agent laughed at the offer. I don't know what their response was.
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  kls

  She hasn't e-mailed us yet. But she's told us verbally that their agent laughed at the offer.

  Chances are good then that your offer was not accepted and i know in Wisconsin you have 3 days to recind on a contract. It reallly sounds like if their agent laughed at it then it won't be accepted and even if it does get accepted by the owners you can put so many clauses in the contract that the owners would refuse.
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  G Money

  I know US law and laws of a few states but not necessarily the laws of your state, however, many are similar. Most offers have a time limit for acceptance and yours is probably on the last page of your offer. Check it out.
  
  What is your opinion of my comment about it being a good deal? If so, then you may want to buy as prices are rising in many areas.
  
  Assuming your agent used a standard Michigan contract (2 page form revised 11/99), you'd have the following outs:
  
  Section:
  
  2- Maximum Interest rate and loan qualifying so if you put "X" and cannot get it ior get higher, you can opt out.
  8 - Title insurance and acceptance / rejection of title report.
  13 - Physical Inspection & acceptance / rejection
  14 - Seller's disclosure Statement & acceptance / rejection
  15 - Lead Based Paint Disclosure & acceptance / rejection
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  La Capra

  And good old standard contract law says that there is no contract (therefore no duty on either party) until the valid offer is accepted.

  And guess what, you can rescind the offer if want, then it is no longer valid. IT IS AN OFFER, NOT A CONTRACT!

  However, it would appear that you have notice of their rejection of your offer, as evidenced by their "sold" advertising, which means you can conduct yourselves accordingly.

  Until both sign parties sign a purchase agreement contract, neither side is bound by an offer. Usually, an offer in real estate begets a counter offer (which really is a rejection of the first offer and a new offer to you, which you may now accept or reject.)

  A verbal offer in a real estate deal is only as valid as both sides want it to be. A purchase agreement contract for real estate absolutely must be in writing, or it is unenforceable.

  Don't stress, if your offer was low, then at worst you will get a counteroffer which you are free to reject.

  And besides, there are tons of contingencies in the purchase agreement contract through which one could wriggle with a buyer's agent, but again, you have not signed a purchase agreement, so chill.

  Shoshana (who did well in both her Contracts class and her Real Properties class, but has put the information out of her mind as she concentrates on her last year in law school. And please do not consider the above information legal advice on what you should do. It isn't legal advice.)

  P.S. If this really was the house for you, then you would be feeling stressed that they aren't going to accept your offer. That the revese is true is telling about the timing and this particular house. When it is the right time and the right house, you will go the extra mile to get it done.
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  garybuss

  The offer will expire at 12pm this Sat.That's a sunset clause.
  I feel that they may try to sue if the house doesn't sell.
  I can't see why. Unless there's something else you haven't written. They can either accept your offer or they can reject it. If they accept it, they accept it with all it's contingencies, like subject to financing, subject to satisfactory inspections, and subject to sale of existing property. Lots of walks there.
  They could say we held up the house during prime selling time for them and before they could respond we broke the deal.
  Can't see how. I never heard of a low ball offer being a problem to any seller.
  I think you just need to talk to your agent and ask all your questions.
  
  
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  love11

  Hey thanks everybody for your help.

  I think I was just listening to my dad and he was getting me all worked up thinking that they could sue us now.

  I made up with my husband. Then we got a call saying our offer was rejected. So I was upset for nothing at all.

  Note to self: Don't stress about the unknown.
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  kls

  Wheew Love11,sure glad that is over with all is alright . Just make sure when you do decide to buy to really look into FHA loans and if it is still what it was when we bought our first house, that is a rout that you do not want to go.
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  love11

  I've been hearing alot of bad about FHA loans. It seems like it used to be so reputable.

  Oh well, this fall I'm starting school full-time and I really won't have the time to pack, move, and decorate/set up a new home. Also, I think we should have alot more in savings next spring anyways. So I think we made the right decision.

  Thanks everybody!
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  Jourles

  You should never put a bid on a home unless your financing is all squared away up front. Did your agent have you meet with a mortgage specialist first to see how much home you could afford?(probably one that they work with quite a bit) The mortgage agent will review EVERYTHING concerning your finances, credit, bank accounts, etc. and then will give you a ballpark amount of a price range you should look in. Of course, you can also try Lending Tree, ELoan, et al. But it really helps to have a local mortgage agent that you can visit in person.

  Just as with buying a car, never walk into a dealership without having your financing squared away first. Have a "blank check" in hand from your bank, E-Loan, etc. and then negotiate as if you were paying cash. (dealers get a higher spiff if they arrange financing, usually a point or two of the interest rate -- they also try keep the price of the car higher if you are bringing your own financing to the table so it pays to shop around and have dealerships compete against each other. once they see you are a saavy buyer and know their tricks, they usually give in to a few of these customers a month but make up for the smaller commission on the impulse buyers with bad credit)

  Having your financing(pre-approved, not pre-qualified) shows the seller that you are ready to occupy the home. It also moves your offer to the top of the list of prospective buyers. Most home sellers do not want to deal with people who simply make an offer and then have to see if they are approved to buy it. Those are impulse buyers. Kind of like the same people who walk into that dealership simply because they are in love with a certain model of car and MUST have it. The dealer lets them drive away with that new car only to call them back a couple of days later to inform them that their credit wasn't approved. Now they have to pay mileage and other inflated costs due to simply driving the car off the lot and the dealer still gets to sell the car as new.

  So in the end, get your financing done first. Don't even think about looking at houses until that part gets completed and approved. Trust me, anyone else that has done it the other way and has gotten burned will tell you the same.(I never got burned, I just do my homework beforehand) The loan paperwork should also give you a specific timeframe before it expires, usually 60 days. And your interest rate will stay locked during that time even if it goes up. If you can't find a house within two months time, you would have to start over again.

  If your agent knows that you didn't have financing already lined up, I would be wary of them. A good agent will help you get that set up ahead of time, otherwise you are wasting their time if you know you can't buy a house at the moment. Unless you are planning to buy a house straight up with cash, most agents WANT their buyers to be ready to move in.