Sand Lake, MI

We see anxious sellers in this market and for good reason.

Then again we see some odd events from time to time.

Buyer executed a purchase agreement and the seller counter-offered. Buyer again said OK and agreed to the counter offer...all done let's get on with the inspections and loan head to the closing!

Not so fast....the seller changes their mind and doesn't want to sell. The contract is signed we have a deal or do we. Yup we do...but is it worth going to court?

Seller didn't estimate the payoff including the second mortgage. They went to the bank and was told they could get a loan transferred to the new property...oh the seller forgot one thing...their income wasn't what was stated on the application for their new loan. OH the seller had more credit card debt than reported too! OK but that is not my problem I represent the buyer!

The buyer want the house. The buyer has his credit in shape and can buy...so to bad for the seller...right?

The legal side of this little problem is very clear and the seller and brokerage for the seller is in deep stuff.

Are these sellers not playing with a full deck? Do they listen to their broker and agent?They have three little kids...they wanted to move. They thought....but never really did their homework and unfortunately it may also reflect on the agent not making sure the seller could sell before taking the listing.

That ready, willing and able buyer thing.....it means somebody pays a commission. The contract means the seller could be forced to sell the house and move without regard to whether they could find a place to live. It is called specific performance under our laws. This could be one of those nasty little things that turn a family and brokerage upside down.

Thankfully I am on the correct side of the problem.

We are not going to let a seller off with some compensation on this issue. If people could do this anytime they felt like it what would our market be like? We also are not interested in turning a difficult situation for a young family into a financial mess either.

Contracts aren't made to be broken!

What would you do?