Went under contract based off of false info

[Grant H.]

To start, I’m attempting to purchase my first multi family property. I found a duplex that was listed for $250k. The market has been extremely competitive in my city so I acted fast and offered $255k which the seller accepted. Due to the property being occupied, they would not show it or provide any information without an accepted contract. On the listing of the property, it did not disclose that it was section 8 housing and it also listed the rental income incorrectly (it was listed higher than the actual income). 

Moving on, I’ve spent about $1300 in different inspections - only to find out after these inspections that it was section 8 housing and that the actual income was lower than what I was told and what is listed on the listing. This was only found out after I was given copies of the leases. 

The home inspections turned up issues that the seller has not agreed to fix, which is going to cause me to terminate the contract (still in option period).

It’s not a lot of money to lose from inspections, but my offer would not have been $255k if I would have know this information beforehand. My number 1 rule has been trying to find a property that meets the 1% rule and after finding out the actual rental income, this rule doesn’t work anymore. 

Do I have any kind of legal basis to have my money refunded from the seller? Did the seller and sellers agent do anything incorrectly or did I just make mistakes?

[Chris Mason]

You spent $1300 on due diligence, and that due diligence revealed that this isn't the deal it was advertised as. That means your $1300 did it's job. This isn't "oh you wasted money on due diligence," this is "Thank God you did your due diligence and got your money's worth!"

No point in speculating/opining on if the listing agent did their job well. For your part, you didn't do anything wrong. You got your $1300 worth of due diligence and it saved you from a "surprise" or two after closing. That's what that was for. 

If you want to negotiate price down over the inaccurate information on the MLS, by all means do so. Any property is a slamming deal at the right price, so get angry/confrontational and go get that price! Maybe in the future that listing agent will be more accurate.

Overall this isn't super unusual. Information on the MLS is marketing/advertising.