Too late to walk?

Question

I recently entered in to an agreement to purchase a pretty fantastic home for my family in New Brunswick, Canada. I am to the point of the transaction where I am doing the final walk through and we close on Friday.

Long story short, between our last visit on the final walk through we found the power had been cut, pipes froze, extensive damage to living room, kitchen, basement and electrical. The home is not in a livable state.

At this point is it too late to walk, or do we have to wait for the seller to arrange repairs through insurance, himself, or monetary compensation?

Answer 1

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with Canadian real estate/mortgage/purchase laws, but I imagine they are very similar, as some of our real estate laws were based off of Canadian ones.

Nothing is ever final until you sign the final closing agreements. In the United States you will have a good faith estimate done generally a week before the closing, and it will list the entire estimated costs of the loan, as well as all loan terms. This is as binding as toilet paper for both sides. You may disregard this completely.

The only thing that matters is the final closing settlement papers. After you sign those, you are locked. There is no right or recission or backing out on a home purchase once you sign those. UNLESS, you can prove you were willfully misled.

Again, these are USA rules, but we should be very similar. I would stake my job on the idea that you aren't locked in unless you sign the final papers.

You may also renegotiate to include the repairs as a requirement for the purchase of the home. I would put a hold on this, and threaten to back out unless they did the repairs. You may be forced to sign at a higher price, however.

I would say this is your best option to getting that house, and getting it for cheaper than purchasing and then doing the repairs yourself.

Answer 2

You can walk BUT you may loose your good faith money- thee 11th hour can change everything. The seller is still the owner ( you have a vested interest) and is responsible to maintain the House in the condition it was negotiated for. I realize that in NB you guys use lawyers so mu best guess is get to FREDERICTON, ST. JOHN, MONCTON, AND LET THE LAWYER HANDLE IT. Best of luck, wish I were home in NB instead of Vegas.

Answer 3

You can walk away, but you need to protect your interest (down payment). You should immediately contact your attorney. I would imagine you can support a breach of contract by the poor condition of the premises.

Answer 4

Don't know the rules up there. Here, people can and do walk on the last day.

Answer 5

You can walk, it isn't over until the last page is signed.

Answer 6

you really need to contact a lawyer, who deals with real estate .