Buyer changed their mind buying my house. Legal?

K

Kaun

New Member
Jurisdiction
Washington
Buyer changed their mind buying my house. Legal?
I was in contract selling my house in Washington state. After the inspection they asked for things to fix. I agreed to fix almost everything they asked for but not all. They decided to withdraw from the contract. I replied that I am now willing to fix everything but they still terminated.

My moral position is that they changed their mind based on a whim. This caused me incredible damages. Legally, I cannot imaging that just because I sent an update to my reply saying I would fix everything and just because it was a day late that that would allow them to terminate. That just can't be fair/legal. Also, they made some very unreasonable repair requests based on false arguments of the house inspector. For instance I was asked to fix something which didn't exist.

Is there any legal recourse I have to keep their earnest money?

Thanks much
 
I would imagine the answer you seek is in the contract. Review it to find out what obligations reach party has.
Your realtor and attorney should be able to explain as the terms tend to be very similar from sale to sale.
 
Just went thru this with my son home purchase. The realtor told my son if the inspection came back with issues. He could ask the seller to repair them. If they didn't want to repair them all then they could reach an agreement. If they couldn't reach an agreement then my son could say " Ok, we don't want it. " But as stated above this should be in the contract (Offer) on the house....
 
Kaun said:
My moral position is that they changed their mind based on a whim. This caused me incredible damages. Legally, I cannot imaging that just because I sent an update to my reply saying I would fix everything and just because it was a day late that that would allow them to terminate. That just can't be fair/legal. Also, they made some very unreasonable repair requests based on false arguments of the house inspector. For instance I was asked to fix something which didn't exist.

Is there any legal recourse I have to keep their earnest money?
Click to expand...

Your moral position has no legal significance.

If you responded 24 hours after the contractually obligated date, you might as well been 24 years late.

Late is late, timely is timely.

If you're selling or buying a home WITHOUT a real estate attorney on retainer, that is very foolish.

The next time you enter into a contract it would behoove you to speak with YOUR attorney regarding your duties and obligations.
 

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