Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 1 vote
So I am in the process of buying a house in Iowa. The seller agreed to my offer and is also looking for a new house to move their big family into while I’m under contract with their current house.
For whatever reason, their financing fell through on the new house the seller is pursuing, which means that I may have to move out my closing date to accommodate the sellers closing on their new house. But I do not want to move my closing date as I have plans prior to moving in that I need to do. I’m staying in a rental and I want to fix up the house before my lease ends in July.
Should I just continue to close regardless of their lending dilemma or negotiate a way to make this work out in my favor? I was thinking about asking for a discount to the purchase price in some way. And possibly renting out the house back to them until they can buy their new house like they wanted.
Did you or the seller have any contingencies in writing? You should normally...
How/why did your seller's financing fall through? Is it a serious problem? or some sort of short term "snafu?"
Depends on how badly you want it.
What if you close as scheduled, but rent it back to them? That will help defer your costs to find alternative, short term housing. But, be careful if they really can't find some place to go or to get their financing...
If the seller is motivated to sell the property you can still close and have the seller explore renting until they close on their new home, or lease that property back to them. If you show signs of backing off they may be more likely to close on time.
@David M. There weren’t any specific contingencies other than the generic closing costs responsibility and appraisal. The seller haven’t yet given us a reason why the financing fell through and what the next step is on their part.
Closing is in a week. If they have to look for other financing options, I feel there needs to be some sort of favorable mediation due my time constraints. I want to be able to weigh out all my options. If finding a temporary place to stay is my only option, I will then have to determine whether I want to back out and look for something else that would take less work updating or close on the property and charge them rent until they find another home. I don’t know what other options are out there.
Honestly, I am rather neutral on this. Not to be insulting, but your seller's financing falling through is a real possibility, or reality in this case, so it should have been considered when you went under contract. Without pre-arranged terms, its not a toss up whether the sellers "care" about your situation.
Like I said, its really a matter of how bad do you want it. Not sure what else is available in your market. Is that market in Iowa falling unlike here on the East Coast? So you have other options?
How well do you know the seller? Would seller have any difficulty finding a new buyer? Just a bunch of things to consider "who has the stronger hand.."