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adanna285
LIF Zygote
Member since 11/17 4 total posts
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Delayed Closing Experiences
Feeling really down with the whole process and looking for advice.
My husband and I found a home we love and put an offer in October of last year. Our target date to close was "on or around November 21 2017." Then it was the week of 12/6, then the week of 12/20.
We went away for the Christmas holiday and received a call informing us that closing was going to be attempted on January 5th. Great. We cut our vacation early since we have been packed and ready to go since early December. Needless to say we are still waiting with no end in sight. Our rate lock has long expired and we are just .... waiting.
The delay is due to permit issues not for the home we are looking to purchase, but for the home the sellers of our home are looking to purchase. There is a (major) illegal extension and the owners of that property refuse to put money in escrow to fix it. If our seller cannot move then by default WE cannot move. No she is not willing to close with us and rent the home back from us (which I kind of understand).
I am starting to think this deal is going to fall through. We LOVE this house and have spent thousands so far which we would loose if we can't close (ex. inspection $500, lawyer $500 remainder to be paid at closing, survey $750, title search $500, appraisal $500, loan application fees, ect) 
We are currently renting and our landlord has already found a wonderful couple for our rental and we have changed our moving date numerous times (based on the information we have been given).
Some people are telling us to walk away that this deal is not going to happen. Problem is:
1. We LOVE (not like) this house
2. We have invested money that we will not get back and fees that we will have to pay all over again on a different property.
Any similar experiences? How did things work out? Did you end up closing in the end ???? Should we accept this as a loss and let it go???
Both my agent and my loan officer are telling me "they have never seen anything like this before," which certainly does not help my anxiety. We are literally living out of boxes and I am afraid my landlord may eventually put us out so the new tenants can move in (our lease expired).
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Posted 1/10/18 5:40 PM  |
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Delayed Closing Experiences
I’m sorry but I wouldn’t put up with it. I would have your lawyer write a letter saying closing by X date or you walk with all money reimbursed to you because THEY are breaking the contract. It’s their new home that’s the problem, if they want to sell then they should honestly get a temporary rental and close. A friend of mine just went through this and did this to force the closing, the seller needed the money for her new home and if they walked, they would have to start the process of finding another buyer again.
Message edited 1/11/2018 11:12:51 AM.
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| Posted 1/10/18 6:15 PM |
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Mill188
LIF Adult
Member since 3/09 3073 total posts
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
have your lawyer send a "time is of the essence" letter to force them to close.
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| Posted 1/11/18 9:33 AM |
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Mrs&MrsK
i need sleep ;-)
Member since 2/14 2008 total posts
Name:
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
my real estate agent recently told me that you only have 30 days wiggle room as the seller to close on your house. so 12/21 should have been legally the latest they could wait.
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| Posted 1/11/18 10:14 AM |
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NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
Do you have a lawyer? Your lawyer should have already sent a "time is of the essence" letter. The sellers at this point have broken the contract with you. It's not your problem that the sellers can't move into their new home. Your lawyer needs to take control.
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| Posted 1/11/18 10:21 AM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
Where is your lawyer? You needed a time of the essence letter sent months ago. This is professionally unacceptable and your lawyer/paralegal should be on top of this. Call your attorney and demand he or she do their job. They need to send the letter today. Then, when this is all over, I would consider writing a letter to the bar association because your lawyer is not putting pressure on their attorney to close and costing you money. When you did not close on 11/21/17 your attorney should have sent a letter to the seller's attorney saying time is of the essence and you are demanding closing by 12/21/17. The fact the sellers new home is not ready is not your issue. They could go into a monthly rental and store their stuff.
Message edited 1/11/2018 10:53:01 AM.
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| Posted 1/11/18 10:49 AM |
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jlm2008
LIF Adult
Member since 1/10 5092 total posts
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
Posted by LSP2005
Where is your lawyer? You needed a time of the essence letter sent months ago. This is professionally unacceptable and your lawyer/paralegal should be on top of this. Call your attorney and demand he or she do their job. They need to send the letter today. Then, when this is all over, I would consider writing a letter to the bar association because your lawyer is not putting pressure on their attorney to close and costing you money. When you did not close on 11/21/17 your attorney should have sent a letter to the seller's attorney saying time is of the essence and you are demanding closing by 12/21/17. The fact the sellers new home is not ready is not your issue. They could go into a monthly rental and store their stuff.
All of this. Where is your lawyer? This makes no sense.
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| Posted 1/11/18 11:13 AM |
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Re: Delayed Closing Experiences
Posted by Mrs&MrsK
my real estate agent recently told me that you only have 30 days wiggle room as the seller to close on your house. so 12/21 should have been legally the latest they could wait.
That's not really correct. An "on or about" date for closing in the contract does contemplate a 30 day window. So if it says on or about Dec. 1, the parties are expecting to close in the month of December (between Dec. 1- Dec. 30).
That doesn't mean you can't close before, if all parties agree. And if you go past that date, it's not like there are immediate legal consequences. As mentioned above, the attorneys would need to discuss the reason for delay and when closing is contemplated. If the seller is dragging their feet, a buyer's attorney would send a "time is of the essence" letter to put the seller's on notice that they have x amount of time (must be reasonable) to fulfill their contractual obligation to close, and then if not, legal action will be taken. But you can't immediately take legal action to enforce a contract without taking these steps.
Also, legal action isn't really a practical solution for most buyers. It sounds like you don't want to just get your down payment back or be tied up in lengthy litigation, you just want the house.
To me, it sounds like you need more information. What is the status of legalizing the extension on the house that the seller is purchasing? Is the seller of the house with the extension actively pursuing the C/O for it? Do they have an expediter? Is a variance required? Your attorney should be getting concrete information/documentation about where that process stands, if that is the hold up on your closing. I mean, if it's going to be another few weeks, it's annoying, but I'd look at the greater good (getting the house).
If there has been no steps taken to rectify the extension, then your attorney perhaps needs to do more to pressure the other attorney to advise his client of their contractual obligation. I assume there was no contingency in the contract about the seller finding a house before they sell?
But bottom line - this is an attorney issue - your attorney should be on top of the other attorney to find out what is going on and when you can close. Your agent can also lean on the other agent -- the seller's agent should advise their client that they have an obligation to close regardless of whether their new home is ready. Honestly, the agent has an incentive to see the sale go through, so she/he should be on the side of getting to the closing table.
Sorry you are going through this!
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| Posted 1/11/18 11:14 AM |
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