Seller keeps pushing date back, need advice

[Michael Trevino]

My wife and I are getting ready to purchase our first home in the dallas Texas area. We initially made an offer back in Mid-January and this was accepted with the condition that we close on February 10th, which was somewhat quick, but what do we know, right? Also, our offer had several items for the seller (flipper) which were written and agreed upon in the contract. As we got closer to the closing date, we asked our real estate agent to push the date back to Feb 23rd as we didn't think the seller would be able to complete in time and we wanted to get things done correctly. The seller agreed, and this was signed and essentially we should be ready to move into the house Feb 23rd, with one day prior for inspection. We checked on the house on Feb 13th and literally nothing had been done on the house. We know this because we had put blue tape everywhere that needed to be fixed/updated and nothing was completed. 

So, then a storm happens the following week and everybody and everything was shut down for an entire week, which is understandable. So the seller ask if we can move to the 2nd of March, which we agreed. Still the work has not been completed, although much improvements have been made, so he asked us to move it to March 4th, which is the last day of our loan contract. March 3rd comes around and he is no where close to being done, but the seller ask if he can pay $450 to extend the closing day another week and we agreed upon this. Well here we are a week later and we get confirmation from the city that there are permits that have not been completed. Essentially electrical and roofing items are not finished. Now the seller is asking for another week. My wife and I have about another 2.5 weeks in our apartment lease before we have to be out of here and we are not sure if we trust this seller anymore to complete work on the timeline. 

The good part is that the work being done was not on the contract initially and these are additional items he is completing because of the city ordinance, but we are nervous about the kind of work was done behind the scenes. We contacted the city and they tell us they have been out there 3 times already with the work still not being done correctly. Also, this guy brags online that he's flipped over $80 million in real estate, so he's not a new flipper in the game. 

Also, on top of this the seller has been flipping other houses (No judgement) but we keep getting pushed to the back burner every time. We literally see him on IG showing other houses, which is really making my wife and I pretty upset. I basically am wondering if we can put contingencies on the seller that if he doesn't complete the work by a certain time then he would need to increase a sellers credit or have something come out of his pocket. Keep in mind that we would not move forward if the city does not sign off on the city permit. I do believe this house is worth more than we are paying, and that if he relisted on the market, he could get 10-20k more and he possibly knows this and is dragging his feet as well, hoping we walk way.  

Any advise is greatly appreciated on how we can hold this person accountable for the timeline and if he doesn't then there is a penalty for him missing the deadline. Thanks! 

[Guy Gimenez]

I would advise you to seek legal counsel. That is where help will be found. There were so many red flags described in this post that were overlooked and the delays will continue until the seller is forced to perform, assuming of course on what your contract language provides for. Stop wasting time and take your contract, emails, texts, etc. and get legal counsel. No one here has read your contract and that is what the the resolution will rest upon.