All Forum Posts by: Keena Dean

Thank you to those who responded.  John has a good realtor working with him, and I've given him lots of other ideas to think about.  It's in his hands and court now.  Thanks again everyone. 

If the buyer defaults the seller can:

a.  Specifically enforce this Contract and recover damages suffered by SELLER as a result of the delay in the sale of the Property. 

b.  Terminate this Contract by written notice to BUYER and, at SELLER’S option, either retain the Earnest Money as liquidated damages as SELLER’S sole remedy (the parties recognizing that it would be extremely difficult to ascertain the extent of actual damages caused by BUYER’S breach, and that the Earnest Money represents as fair an approximation of such actual damages as the parties can now determine) as provided in this Contract, or pursue any other remedy and damages available at law or in equity. 

Thanks Greg.  They are fine losing their earnest money - they just want out at this point.  The problem in Kansas is that the buyers cannot just walk away.  Both parties must agree to cancel the contract, and at this time, the sellers are unwilling to do so.  They could just not show up to the closing table -- but then the sellers always have the option of taking them to court and sue for specific performance. 

The language for the loan approval in the contract basically just says the buyer has to make a good faith effort to obtain the loan commitment within 45 days of the contract or 5 days before losing, whichever is earlier. If buyer cannot obtain the loan, the contract can be voided. 

Right now there isn't any reason why they wouldn't be approved for a loan. So at this point I'm just trying to get some out of the box ideas or loopholes here. Right now we're all kind of holding our breath and thinking that this is going to end up resting on the shoulders of the appraisal; hoping the home is not worth what they have offered. 

He is NOT my client, just a family member. I'll call him John. John and his (pregnant) wife are downsizing (from Belton, MO) and were trying to buy a smaller home in Kansas City, Kansas. They are set to close on January 9th and they are through almost all contingencies (selling their current home, inspection/resolution). I believe the last contingency would be financing, but unless the house doesn’t appraise for at least the purchase price, this contingency will be satisfied as well.

Long story short, they are now trying to get out of this house. A couple days ago John was out at the new house, and briefly parked in the neighbor’s driveway. John says at that point the neighbor came out and immediately pulled a gun on him. They are starting a family and are now very scared about this neighborhood and their immediate neighbors. Bottom line, I think they just now realized that this is the kind of neighborhood where you need to be a gun owner – and they are NOT gun people, so you can imagine how scary this was for them.

What options, if any, does John have at this point? His realtor immediately reached out to the seller’s agent, who responded and said that the sellers are not willing to sign off on a cancellation. I guess the sellers have already fixed the roof of the home, which John and his wife had requested (I believe the roof cost was $5k).

Purchase Price: $99,500
Down payment: $18,900
Earnest money: $1,000
Financing: $79,600

Are there any options for John at this point? He’s willing to lose the earnest money and probably even the cost of repairs. Any ideas or insight you might have would be extremely helpful.