Vandalism Question

[Clay French]

Our offer was just accepted on a short sale. We just went in to do another inspection and saw that someone busted about 3-4 windows. It's still a great deal, but do we have any recourse for the damage done after the offer was made? Also, what protection if any do we have if the vandals come back and do even more damage?

[Jon Holdman]

Until its closed, the sellers own it. Normally, they would have to reduce the price or fix damage done after your offer. Since its a short, it would need to go back to the bank to approve a price reduction based on the damage. You should be able to get out of the contract, even if its past your inspection deadline, if there is damage. Its up to you to decide whether to walk (i.e., it burns to the ground), negotiate a new price, which will take time, or to accept it as is.