Our Buyer Cancelled!
Last week was filled with real life lessons in Real Estate. Our "too good to be true" cash buyer backed out, leaving us shocked and even hurt - but one thing to remember - this IS a business. There are people out there that have a lot more experience than we have, and that's why we need to rely on others to tell us when something isn't quite right.
First we thought we would be able to keep that generous earnest money - but NOOOOOO. This guy cancelled within the California's RPA 17 day period. The purchase contract gives the buyer 17 days to change their mind! And they get their deposit back.
Learned Lesson #1: All cash buyers don't need 17 days to change their mind. The next time I'm approached with an all cash buyer, I will have paragraph 14b changed to 3 days.
The other odd thing about this purchase contract is the buyer wanted to choose the escrow company. According to my realtor, it is standard practice that they seller chooses the escrow company. I should have listened to her because sure enough, this buyer never put up a down payment, and we were scrambling and signing every disclosure document that came our way.
Learned Lesson #2: Seller chooses the Escrow company. When you have your rehab on the market, it's easy to accept your first offer. Listen to your realtor when they express concerns. We were so desperate to have this deal go through, we simply accepted the offer. Had we countered with our realtor's recommendations, we wouldn't have lost precious time while our house was not on the market.
First we thought we would be able to keep that generous earnest money - but NOOOOOO. This guy cancelled within the California's RPA 17 day period. The purchase contract gives the buyer 17 days to change their mind! And they get their deposit back.
Learned Lesson #1: All cash buyers don't need 17 days to change their mind. The next time I'm approached with an all cash buyer, I will have paragraph 14b changed to 3 days.
The other odd thing about this purchase contract is the buyer wanted to choose the escrow company. According to my realtor, it is standard practice that they seller chooses the escrow company. I should have listened to her because sure enough, this buyer never put up a down payment, and we were scrambling and signing every disclosure document that came our way.
Learned Lesson #2: Seller chooses the Escrow company. When you have your rehab on the market, it's easy to accept your first offer. Listen to your realtor when they express concerns. We were so desperate to have this deal go through, we simply accepted the offer. Had we countered with our realtor's recommendations, we wouldn't have lost precious time while our house was not on the market.
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