Can the sellers of a house we were going to buy back out after the inspection?

Question

My husband and I found a perfect house, put down a deposit, have a signed offer letter, and went through the inspection. The inspection found three small things, one of which is the replacement of a foot-long section of tubing/pipe between the oil tank and the boiler. The issue is simply that it's underground in that section, and to be up to Massachusetts code, it must be above ground. Since the owner is a plumber and did much of the work on his house, we thought nothing of asking him to fix that one issue before we signed the purchase and sales agreement. Instead, he has flipped out at our suggestion that the house is not 100% perfect, and is threatening not to sell. Since we do have a signed offer letter, do we have any legal standing as far as putting the pressure on them to sell?

We have an accepted offer, signed by my husband and I and the sellers (husband and wife), but not a "purchase and sales" agreement. We are even willing to make the repair ourselves -- which we've had estimated at about $80 (hardly seems worth the fight for them), but now we're being told that we insulted them, and they simply may not want to sell as a result. We are first-time homebuyers, and thought we were within our rights to ask him to fix something that was wrong. Now, we're being told that if they and their lawyer consider us asking them to fix the item as a "counteroffer," our signed offer acceptance can be voided. We're very upset, obviously.

Thanks, Mary B, for that completely unwarranted rude response. We each have certified realtors, and attorneys. I was simply asking the question, because as it is, we are stuck waiting for the owner to decide what he'd like to do.

No, we never put the repair request in writing. Yes, it is a written offer to purchase, signed by us, and the acceptance of it signed by them.

Answer 1

Nope, do you have a sales contract that you signed??? usually most sales contracts will state reasons for backing out of a sale and who forfeits what upon termination.

You had EVERY right to have the home owners repair the item prior to closing or you could have asked for that amount off of the sales price in order for you to repair it yourself. If he's going to be that much of an a*s then I'd back out. Let him huff and puff he's going to go thru this time and time again if a home inspection showed this wasn't to code, he's going to lose a lot of buyers if he does this each time.

Give him time to blow off steam, he's trying to scare you into taking the house as is without him having to do any of the work. Tell him that's fine he doesn't have to fix it then ask for a $10,000 price reduction to do the work yourself. Let's see how fast he runs to fix it.

Answer 2

the first question to ask yourself, after the inspection is...... Do you still want to buy the house, knowing what you now know? If so then you have a number of options, if not, your contract likely has a method to collapse the contract and move on. Keeping in mind that you have a contract in place, any change to the current terms and conditions of the contract open the contract and may allow the seller to change their options as well, as they may say no to any and all of your requests, and could demand other considerations. Having said that, if you have determined that you do want to go forward with the purchase, provided that the seller makes some adjustment to the contract, let say in the form of fixing the problem (either by reducing the price, or by doing the work or a combination of both). To expect the seller to pay for all the work is often not reasonable, as most homes would have had some degree of wear and tear and reduction in expected life cycle ofr the typical issues (mechanical equipment, roofs, flooring etc.) So it would be reasonable to propose a compromise, in good faith and good intent, that you can life with, if this is not met and or agreed upon by the seller, you can decide with direction to go. I have found over the years that most sellers are of good moral and good intention, equally to the intentions and good moral as the buyers, so as long as each party wants to go forward, you will likely come to a workable solution. In my experience it is often the agents that get their respective ego's in the way of making a possible solution work, just because they want to win some sort of artificial negotiation battle. so don't be surprised that you will experience some friction, but again with the right intention and mind set you can make this work. One of the key factors to remember, as a strong position for you, that now that these issues are known to the seller (who likely did not know them until the inspection) by law the listing agent and the seller are obligated to disclose these items to any future buyer, and therfore will affect the saleability and potential sale price for the property, if you end up not buying the property. It may be that at some point you feel the process is getting to complicated or just won't work. Don't worry, this so called once in a life time opportunity and dream home, comes about .... once a month. There is always another home, and opportunity for you, so don't worry about the outcome, and besure not to get too attached to the outcome either way. I am sure your agent will have pointed out some or all of the points that have been offered to you in all the answers you are receiving, good agents can make a big difference in how your current and future home buying experience will proceed, and you finding your dream home. Good Luck and Happy Home Hunting

Answer 3

As a general rule, a contract enforceable at law is formed only when there is an offer, acceptance, consideration and intention to be legally bound. I believe that you have satisfied all these factors as follows;
offer- to buy the house
consideration- this is when you offer something in return for something else. in this instance obviously you are offering money in return for the house
acceptance- your offer to buy the house has been accepted via the signing of the documentation and acceptance of the deposit.
intention to be bound- obviously there was intent to be bound because of the nature of the agreement in that it involves a large quantity of money etc.

the seller may well also be bound to fix the tubing problem because it is a legal requirement that it be above ground. i would suspect that either this law was not in effect until after he had done the piping or that, as a plumber who is capable of doing the work himself, he did not expect that it would be brought to his attention pending the sale. Removing the piping from underground will be expensive/inconvenient and i would think that his threat not to sell is an attempt to weasil his way out of fixing the problem.

as far as i'm concerned this is a straight case of breach of contract if he refuses to sell and thus you can sue. consult legal advise and take along with you the signed agreement and have them explain to you an order for specific performance which is what i'm sure your lawyer will argue for.

Answer 4

I do not know Masschusetts law so this is my opinion. The seller is a jerk. Most people that are guilty or are hiding something act hyper offended so that you stop looking and may find something more sinister. He is probably trying to "bully you" and intimidate you into not asking questions. If you obviously have a copy of the inspection he can see that you aren't making it up then he is being unreasonable. Did you even sign a handwritten note that agreed to price and terms (Buyer accepts property as-is and will pay $X) That would be a valid offer to purchase. It is not a pretty document but it's legal. if you haven't signed anything of that nature then they're talking out of thier tail. Re-read what you signed just to make SURE there wasn't anything like that added.

Answer 5

Big Deal Maker is correct. Also, I would suggest that you read your contract because it will state what your rights are if the home does not "pass" inspection. It sounds to me like the seller might have decided not to sell. If that is the case you usually have the right to sue him for "Specific Performance", which simply means that he has to honor the contract and sell you the home. If everything else is ok with the inspection I would probably just have it fixed after you close. However, some (very few) contracts will state that the only thing that the seller has to do is return your deposit to you prior to a certain date.

Answer 6

Unless you put your request for repairs into writing, your offer still stands as valid. Had you put it in writing, it might have been considered as a demand for repair, and the contract language MAY give the seller the right to say NO to the repairs, and void the contract. Not familiar with Massachusetts offer language, but it is possible.

However, if you only did this verbally, NOTHING has changed, and you can sue for specific performance. Have YOUR attorney draft a letter to that effect and forward it to their real estate agent. I suspect that will cause them to understand that you mean business.

Answer 7

Here is the problem:

Neither one of you had a real estate professional that was knowledgeable on a sales transaction.

You cannot draw up a legal contract for the sale of real estate unless you have Bar Association approved forms or an attorney to draw up the contract...that is practicing law without a license and the contract isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on.

IF a court were to hear your case and accept the contract (which is doubtful), here is what would happen:

1. You made an offer.
2. The seller accepted
3. You made a request for repairs
4. The seller declined.

If you had a valid real estate contract, you could easily enforce the sale, but since you don't, I am confident that he can back out of the "contract", return your earnest money, if any, and it's a done deal....and he isn't legally liable for anything.

NEXT TIME HIRE A PROFESSIONAL!

Answer 8

You the buyer have your due dilligence to find any problems with a potential home you are going to buy. If by have the home inspected and you have found something wrong with the home and ask for it to be fixed and the seller desides he wont fix it. It then is up to you if you wish to continue to buy. Now if you are asking it to be fixed he says no you can back out. If he wont fix it and you still proceed with the purchase as is. Then it is yours.