Heartbroken, need advice/vent - Buying our first home

lyndausvi

lkristenj said:

@AprilH81 - I've beaten myself up plenty. I know we were at fault for signing the previous high offer.

I looked at listings in the area but it turns out many are anticipating the hot market and pricing way over what they can reasonably get. The asking prices are all too high. Our agent did not show us any MLS sales data at all. He just said "go with this number" and that's it. We trusted him but realized our mistake before the offer was submitted. It is only when I threw a huge fit and requested it  multiple times that I got actual closed sale comp data. And that is when we decided to cancel the original offer we signed, before it ever went anywhere. He has never sat down and discussed anything with us.

I have not talked to the broker, but our agent has asked for his advice with it, so the broker is aware of the mistake. I am heavily considering going down that road.

 

wait the broker is aware of the mistake, but has not contacted you?

I would be running away from this office.

AprilH81

lyndausvi said:

lkristenj said:

@AprilH81 - I've beaten myself up plenty. I know we were at fault for signing the previous high offer.

I looked at listings in the area but it turns out many are anticipating the hot market and pricing way over what they can reasonably get. The asking prices are all too high. Our agent did not show us any MLS sales data at all. He just said "go with this number" and that's it. We trusted him but realized our mistake before the offer was submitted. It is only when I threw a huge fit and requested it  multiple times that I got actual closed sale comp data. And that is when we decided to cancel the original offer we signed, before it ever went anywhere. He has never sat down and discussed anything with us.

I have not talked to the broker, but our agent has asked for his advice with it, so the broker is aware of the mistake. I am heavily considering going down that road.

 

wait the broker is aware of the mistake, but has not contacted you?

I would be running away from this office.

Yes, if the broker is aware of the problem and hasn't contacted you personally you need to fire the agent and agency after you exercise the option.

Find a new agent, explain the situation to them and then submit a new (correct) offer to the sellers.  They will probably be glad to deal with someone who hasn't messed up everyone's financial future.

phira

You sound a lot like one of my friends. Lots of, "I know, I'm too nice," or, "I'm still beating myself over this mistake," etc.

Take a deep breath and figure out how to fix this situation.

lennonkdc

Ok, look the more you say the more I feel like you are just immune to bad advice. A contract is made up of 2 basic parts- The offer, and the acceptance of the offer. They are selling a house, So you offer to pay X amount for house and they accept. You now have a contract. The 'option' period of which you speak does not exist to renegotiate the price unless there is something wrong with the house. And the money you have to pay to cancel or walk away- they get that money, so why would they renegotiate the price? They aren't nice people, they a making a business transaction! 

And if you haven't spoken to the Broker I would not assume that you ass hat of an REA has told him. CALL THE BROKER. Dear lord woman its like you are not even trying to be smart about this....

mbross3

lkristenj said:

@AprilH81 - I've beaten myself up plenty. I know we were at fault for signing the previous high offer.

I looked at listings in the area but it turns out many are anticipating the hot market and pricing way over what they can reasonably get. The asking prices are all too high. Our agent did not show us any MLS sales data at all. He just said "go with this number" and that's it. We trusted him but realized our mistake before the offer was submitted. It is only when I threw a huge fit and requested it  multiple times that I got actual closed sale comp data. And that is when we decided to cancel the original offer we signed, before it ever went anywhere. He has never sat down and discussed anything with us.

I have not talked to the broker, but our agent has asked for his advice with it, so the broker is aware of the mistake. I am heavily considering going down that road.

 

To the first bolded--this should have indicated to you that he is incompetent. 

To the second bolded--WHY are you trusting ANYTHING your "agent" says at this point, without verifying for yourself?!!! After all that has happened to you, you STILL haven't talked to the broker yourself, you're trusting that your agent actually has told him/her?! What makes you think that anything this agent says is reliable, especially something that would potentially get him into trouble. 

I do not think you have a firm grasp on how contracts work, especially real estate transactions. Have you gotten all of your information from your agent? You NEED to talk to a lawyer now. You think you can back out of this contract, but that is not always the case, even if there is a provision (if taken to court, it's possible that provisions such as the one you mention can be thrown out in favor of intent demonstrated by offer and acceptance--both of which you have). You need to talk to a lawyer like yesterday. 

I felt SO bad for you when I read your OP. After seeing how unwilling you are to fix any of these mistakes, that sympathetic feeling is slipping away...

lkristenj

Update for those who may be wondering:

I have talked to a lawyer. He said that we did all the right things. Any other way and we could have gotten into serious trouble or lost the house.

The contract was legally binding from the moment it was signed by the sellers (accepted) and we had to abide by it. We would have had to get a release absolving both parties from the contract signed by both of us to undo it. Or paid the option fee and used it if they refused to sign a release. We couldn't just take it back as a mistake. If we did, they could have taken us to court and enforced it and we could have been on the hook for a lot of money. We wanted the house, they wanted to sell, so we decided to work out an amendment that would change the terms of the existing contract. People amend contracts in real estate transactions all the time.

The sellers absolutely wanted to work with us and are truly nice people. We've met them. They knew we could walk away from the house within the option period and they did not want to start over (they had lost two offers aleady by waiting and letting them expire) so we worked hard to come up with an agreement we both could live with, in spite of the mistake. Utilizing the option and writing a new contract with a new agent could possibly have lost us the house by giving them the opportunity to accept a different offer. They are obligated to sell to us as long as we stayed in the contract. We did not want to take the risk of them finding a different buyer or holding out for another offer while our new offer sat on the table.

That being said, we ended up getting an amendment reducing the price by $30,000 and the sellers also agreed to transfer the refrigerator and extend the option period. In the end, it's a little more than what we wanted, but we were within $5,000 of each other and decided to let it go, especially after they put in the relatively new stainless steel Kenmore refrigerator with bottom freezer, french doors, and water dispenser. So, we're officially in escrow and barring anything extreme, we're going to get the house. It does need several repairs, none of which are immediately threatening, but that might cost quite a bit of money. The repairs were the reason they agreed to reduce the price so much.

I hate that the crummy real estate agent will likely get paid for this mess, but if we ended up getting this house at all, even with another agent, he likely would have been paid for it. I know I should have fired him long ago, but I chose to keep him on problems and all because I thought it was our best shot at getting the house. Maybe that was the wrong choice, but all that mattered was the house and we can sort the issues with him out later. I did speak to another agent (highly recommended from a personal friend) about this situation and he would not get involved. The existing contract that the agent wrote could be argued as the "procuring cause" of the sale and he could get the money regardless. I am sure other agents would likewise not have wanted to pick up this situation. They might have a commission dispute on their hands and what agent wants to walk into that? I did give our agent several ultimatums and micro manage him though after the incident. He put up with it because he knew he had (rightfully) lost our trust. After this is through, I will call his broker and let him sort out his associate on his own as he chooses. I also intend to file complaints and negatively review this company. Our mortgage lender has also agreed to help us with going after him.

I understand you ladies might not agree with our actions. That is your right. But I am happy that things are working out, even if not smoothly. Our leverage against the agent is lessened by us continuing to work with him, but we still intend to try to report him. Our first priority was getting the house. Period.

ETF grammar

pinkshorts27

lkristenj said:

Update for those who may be wondering:

I have talked to a lawyer. He said that we did all the right things. Any other way and we could have gotten into serious trouble or lost the house.

The contract was legally binding from the moment it was signed by the sellers (accepted) and we had to abide by it. We would have had to get a release absolving both parties from the contract signed by both of us to undo it. Or paid the option fee and used it if they refused to sign a release. We couldn't just take it back as a mistake. If we did, they could have taken us to court and enforced it and we could have been on the hook for a lot of money. We wanted the house, they wanted to sell, so we decided to work out an amendment that would change the terms of the existing contract. People amend contracts in real estate transactions all the time.

The sellers absolutely wanted to work with us and are truly nice people. We've met them. They knew we could walk away from the house within the option period and they did not want to start over (they had lost two offers aleady by waiting and letting them expire) so we worked hard to come up with an agreement we both could live with, in spite of the mistake. Utilizing the option and writing a new contract with a new agent could possibly have lost us the house by giving them the opportunity to accept a different offer. They are obligated to sell to us as long as we stayed in the contract. We did not want to take the risk of them finding a different buyer or holding out for another offer while our new offer sat on the table.

That being said, we ended up getting an amendment reducing the price by $30,000 and the sellers also agreed to transfer the refrigerator and extend the option period. In the end, it's a little more than what we wanted, but we were within $5,000 of each other and decided to let it go, especially after they put in the relatively new stainless steel Kenmore refrigerator with bottom freezer, french doors, and water dispenser. So, we're officially in escrow and barring anything extreme, we're going to get the house. It does need several repairs, none of which are immediately threatening, but that might cost quite a bit of money. The repairs were the reason they agreed to reduce the price so much.

I hate that the crummy real estate agent will likely get paid for this mess, but if we ended up getting this house at all, even with another agent, he likely would have been paid for it. I know I should have fired him long ago, but I chose to keep him on problems and all because I thought it was our best shot at getting the house. Maybe that was the wrong choice, but all that mattered was the house and we can sort the issues with him out later. I did speak to another agent (highly recommended from a personal friend) about this situation and he would not get involved. The existing contract that the agent wrote could be argued as the "procuring cause" of the sale and he could get the money regardless. I am sure other agents would likewise not have wanted to pick up this situation. They might have a commission dispute on their hands and what agent wants to walk into that? I did give our agent several ultimatums and micro manage him though after the incident. He put up with it because he knew he had (rightfully) lost our trust. After this is through, I will call his broker and let him sort out his associate on his own as he chooses. I also intend to file complaints and negatively review this company. Our mortgage lender has also agreed to help us with going after him.

I understand you ladies might not agree with our actions. That is your right. But I am happy that things are working out, even if not smoothly. Our leverage against the agent is lessened by us continuing to work with him, but we still intend to try to report him. Our first priority was getting the house. Period.

ETF grammar

Thank you for the update. 

AprilH81

Thanks for the update and I'm glad it worked out for you in the end.

Is there a reason you aren't already talking to the Broker?  Why are you waiting?