I am buying a home from Ryland Homes and they keep delaying the completion of it. Is it too late to back out? More specifically, I signed all of the paperwork and they already have $6000 of my money (retainer and other fees). They keep telling me to have my 20% down payment ready, but they keeping changing the finish date. They say that if I back out now, I will lose the $6000. What options do I have...or am I at thier mercy?
2007-09-03 16:21:41 · 4 answers · asked by Crazytune 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
READ your paperwork. Do not go by what they say--go by TERMS OF THE CONTRACT. If you are unsure what that all means, see a good real estate lawyer to determine your rights and obligations.
2007-09-03 16:26:29 · answer #1 · answered by Mike 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're most likely at their mercy, although no one can accurately answer this without knowing the specific termination provisions in your particular contract.
If you didn't thoroughly review Ryland's purchase contract, you will only make that mistake once. Builder contracts seldom give you any rights and the builder will always protect themselves 7 ways from Sunday. If they haven't defaulted on their obligations, you may not have any options. Most builder contracts give them ample ways to delay the closings and most only require a home to be "substantially complete." Huh? I've never read a builder contract that allowed a buyer to terminate the contract without losing a substantial amount of money, if not all of it.
Finally, I can assure you that most builder's reps have little understanding of their own contracts. Never seen a builder contract that didn't have a "time is of the essence" provision. This means both parties must strictly adhere to ALL time frames in the contract. Check your contract and see if they've failed to meet any of their obligations in the specified time frames....if so, you may have some options, although you'd likely need an attorney to follow up on those.
Please review your contract but I wish you the best of luck....I think you'll need it in this case.
2007-09-03 16:43:43 · answer #2 · answered by liveinaustin 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ideally the money should have gone into an escrow and held by a neutral party. Only to be released when both parties are in agreement or a legal judgment is made as to who receives it. If either party does not fulfill their part of the agreement then they are liable to receive a legal claim from the other for damages.
2007-09-03 16:35:49 · answer #3 · answered by divepassion 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can back out at any timie before signing at closing unless you are in a construction loan. Call the title company and ask them or have an attorney look it over. Ryan homes are not the best builder, nor K.B. homes
2007-09-03 19:46:04 · answer #4 · answered by Bill P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋