Possibly backing out of a purchase. Need an experienced perspective please!

[Mike Robbins]

I recently started going through the process of buying a SFH for just myself made an offer and it got accepted, gave the sellers Realtor a 1,000 deposit. Process has been held up for about a week now for some paperwork from the town for the septic tank. But I've always liked the idea of owning a duplex and having a renter pay off my mortgage while I live in the other side. I've already done some research on duplexes in my area and found some suitable ones in my area, and am thinking about backing out and going for a duplex. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

[Jesse Waters]

To echo @Account Closed my first question is what sort of deal are you getting on the SFH? If it is in of work & could be easily improved, you could do a live in rehab/flip then move to a duplex.

In every contract that I do, I like to have a clause or two that gives me an 'out' that the standard sales contract doesn't cover, such as partner acceptance, written approval that I am satisfied with the inspection, I have also had things come up during the inspection that I would normally have pulled out for, but gotten the seller to take care of, usually with cash back at closing.  Since, I deal with residential lending I am limited to 2% seller assistance, so I hold the sellers assistance in an addendum to give to the bank should they balk.  All that being said, I have never had to back out of a contract.

I live in a smaller city, and reputation is very important and a bad name spreads really quick.

In your case I would have a chat with your Realtor and see what your options are at this point in your contract.  As far as your deposit goes, in the future, you might want to put a line in your contract stating that money goes hard something like 48hrs after inspection, or upon written satisfaction with the inspection.

Best of luck,