can you cancel a sale?

Question

If someone puts an offer in on your house and you accept, can you cancel the sale if you have no place to move to?

Answer 1

If it was written in to your counter-offer or initial parameters of purchase. Your Realtor should know.

Answer 2

No, you cannot cancel unilaterally, but you can try to negotiate with them.

- Ask them to cancel the contract.
- Ask them to delay the closing so that you can find a rental.
- Ask to rent the house from the new owner for a while (you would become the tenant) so that you don't have to move twice.
- If you had an agent, they should have planned this with you. Ask the agent to help you find a new place.

Why can you not cancel the contract? Because it's not the buyer's duty to know if you have a place to move to. When you go all way from putting your house on the market, to negotiating an offer and then accepting it, they figure you already know that you'll be expected to move out.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Nope, not without a breach of contract suit that they will likely win. You can ask them for more time (but now you are likely putting them in the same spot you are in), you can do a short term rental somewhere and put your stuff in storage and that may be better long term than a court battle. I would talk to your agent about this and see what they suggest. Sadly you are in a bad spot that will have implications for you and the people buying from you in addition to your agent. Unless your contract said that you could cancel the sale if you didn't have a new place (not likely anyone would agree to buy in that case) you are up the creek.

Answer 4

The only way you can get out without being sued is if there are still contigencies to be met. For instance if there is still time for the lawyer review contingency and the lawyer does not respond in the prescribed 5 bus. days then the deal can be scratched. Before going to these lengths though I suggest that you just ask for more time. Im sure everybody involved in the transaction would rather delay the closing a bit more than to have the entire deal just fall apart. That is the best and safest way to go.

Answer 5

Nope! Once you have agreed to the sale you can be compelled to follow through with it unless there is an agreed contingency clause that allows either of you out of the deal.

I've been in that situation twice, as a buyer. The first time they came to their senses. The second time they had a superior offer from a relative. We slapped a lis pendens on the deed and sued. There was enough $$$ involved that I let their relative have the property but WE took the profit!

Answer 6

Why would you be selling your house without a place to go?
Your contract should have been written that the offer is contingent on the purchase of your new home. If not, you'll just have to temporarily rent some place until you decide to purchase.
You've entered into a contract, if you didn't know what you were agreeing to, you shouldn't have signed anything.

Answer 7

Technically: No, without being sued for breach of contract.

In Reality? Yes..HOWEVER, it depends on how long it has been since you signed the contract. If the closing is just around the corner, fully expect to be threatened with legal action because by that time, the buyer has incurred expenses, and they should be fully reimbursed for those expenses by you.

You can also be sued by your listing agent as well as the selling agent for commissions due. Again, this depends on how long it's been since the contract has been signed, as to how willing they would be to work with you.

Talk with your listing agent. There may be ways you can LEGALLY get out of the contract...if you don't have a listing agent, then you have just learned a valuable lesson on why you should have one.

Answer 8

If you signed and filed all the paper work it's very unlikely you can do that. But I'm sure a good lawyer can find a few legal loopholes to help you out.

Answer 9

Sure, but be expected to get sued for specific preformance.