Probate Law vs Contract Law - Columbus, OH Lawyer Recommendation

[Jared Myers]

Hello,

I am having an issue with an estate sale property that I am looking for help on. I have really two main questions: During a probate/estate sale where the decedent dies intestate and there are two co-administrators named on the estate, along with a guardian, when do the co-administrator's have the ability to enter into a contract agreement with a willing and able buyer? 

Secondly, does anyone have a recommendation for a lawyer that knows the ins and outs of estate sales through the probate court in Columbus, Ohio they are willing to refer? 

Here is my issue, the main story:

I am a licensed real estate agent in the state of ohio. I'm just starting out and doing it on the side but I saw getting my license as a great way to get into the REI game and save money on commissions when I would buy and sell any flips I do. I additionally will transact on the side but that's neither her nor there. Anyway, I listed my home for sale at the end of June and went into contract to sell my home a few days after. Let's call it June 28th, 2016 is when I went into contract with my buyers. We then found a new place to purchase on July 12th, 2016. The new place was an estate sale, where it stated specifically on the listing that in the contract offer it must say 'Subject to the Approval of the Franklin County Probate Court'. No big deal, I included that in the contract and then also disclosed that I was an agent acting on my own behalf. All parties were aware of that, meaning they knew I was the buyer and buyer agent who would be paid for my services as the agent. Everything was running along smoothly on both deals. We jumped through the R2R on our house for sale pretty quickly, but not so much on the new place we had in contract. Regardless of us having a few items left to complete on the R2R for our new place, we had a scheduled closing date of August 15th on our property for sale and then a scheduled closing date of August 19th to purchase the new home.

So Monday, August 15th comes around, and we sell and close on our house. 2 days later (Wednesday, August 17th), I get a call from the agent of the sellers of our new property where we're are supposed to be closing that coming Friday, August 19th. He states there are two issues: 1. The sellers hadn't submitted the contract for approval to the Franklin County Probate Court yet. He stated this normally takes about 1-2 weeks and it was a complete mistake but they just now submitted it. 2. The sellers are not happy with the fact I was taking a commission as the agent, and they didn't know I would be receiving a commission. (We went into contract at a price lower than their original asking price and their argument was they thought because we were purchasing it so low they I wasn't getting a commission? - if so, entirely their realtors fault, but a line of bull either way)

So I then proceed to speak to multiple people at the Franklin County probate court and am told that the contract had been submitted but it was declined for a "technical or clerical" issue. I was also told the entire process for approval is a quick, automated process once the co-adminstrators have been given the ability to list the property - 24-48 hour electronic turn around process. At that point I was then given the lawyer's phone number on the case file. I call the lawyer with hopes to explain the above story and ask if he could make getting the necessary paperwork submitted top priority due to my wife and 2 year old son needing a place to go by Monday, August 22nd. (Remember, supposed to close on the 19th, I negotiated possession of my previous residence for a week). However, the lawyer then proceeds to tell me that we were NEVER in contract, there is no contract, and his clients are not happy with the terms of the contract. He asked me to take no commission and then we could put an occupancy agreement in place to allow us to move in to the home that weekend since we had no where to go. I refused to give up my commission, stated we were in contract because I had the contract with both co-administrators signatures on it, and that I would need to speak with my lawyer before proceeding. He then calls me back a couple hours later and again states, "let's leave the lawyers out of this, raise the purchase price, take less comission, etc, etc." All in attempt to state his goal was to "work for me now" to make sure I wasn't homeless that weekend and keep this deal together. In then informed him I had been given the clear to close by the Title company because they had the necessary documents from the court given his sellers approval and that I would be at the closing table on Friday morning to perform on my end of the deal. Friday, the 19th came, and my wife and I did exactly that, we signed and closed on our end of the deal.

The sellers did not close of course, and later that day to get a deal done, I decided to concede some of my commission to get the lawyer to, in good faith, submit the contract for approval. We put a 30 day occupancy agreement in place and we moved in to the home. Now mind you, this is a home in a very nice neighborhood that I got at a great price but it needs A LOT OF WORK. We moved into it before they had even finished all of the R2R items. There was asbestos and Mold in the basement (still is) and no hot water for several days. The front living room area smells like fireplace HORRIBLY, and the house is so dirty it is tough to live in. The only reason why we moved in that weekend because we figured it was going to be a few day process and we would close the next week (Week of August 22nd), because that's what the lawyer had stated. Regardless, our original purchase contract stated closing and possession were to occur on or before 9/1/2016. That is tomorrow meaning, as I understand it as the buyer, I am free of my obligation to perform due to the fact that the seller has not completed their obligations by this date. However, I want to buy this house because it's a great deal, and I get the sense the sellers are just mad due to the fact that they agreed to the deal in the first place and are dragging their feet as long as possible to make me not to want to purchase. So, all that said and there are many more details, back to my original question: Is the probate lawyer correct that there never was and is not currently a purchase agreement in place because of the court not providing approval yet? (You'd think the co-administrators would have some form of obligation to submit the contingent contract for approval in good faith, no?) and B. does anyone know a good real estate/probate estate lawyer I can speak with about this? I have spoken with multiple lawyers and no one seems to be able to tell me the direction I should take.

Extremely long post but thanks to anyone who reads and provides feedback!