Am I damaging my name in the business? Need some advise

[Dennis Marshall]

I recently closed on my very first deal and was so excited. I was going to make $2,000 quick and easy after 2 weeks of work. Well come to find out there was a previous landlord that had a private loan on the property. She was paid but now that she's in hard times because she didn't invest her money right in the real estate crash, I believe she needs some cash.

The dilemma I'm in is my deal that I originally got with a 17k mortgage to pay off, then 3k to the seller and 2k to me (22k in all), has now come to $24,500 and that's not including my assignment fee. I want to just walk away from the deal so bad but the home owner's calling me wanting to know whats going on, im almost sure the buyer wont want to pay another 6 grand including closing costs and the title company has to be paid for their services. I don't know what to do. I have a probate that Im currently working on but do I even bother taking this deal to the that title office or should I just go to another?

Im so confused. I'm just in this business to help people and make money. I don't want to ruin my name. Anybody with any advise, it will be greatly appreciated. Pass some of that wisdom on to a young man.

Thank you
Dennis Marshall

[Richard Warren]

A deal is not closed when you turn in the paperwork to a title company. It is closed when title has transferred to the new owner. What you did was open escrow and begin the process. The title company does a search for liens on the property and that’s when the mortgage turned up. At this point you can walk away from the deal because it hasn’t closed yet. Whether or not you owe any money depends on what you have asked them to do. If the buyer is not honoring the price you agreed to ($22k) you should walk.

Chalk this up to a learning experience and spend a lot more time learning the process before you attempt to do another deal.

:cool: