Buyer backed out 2 days before closing and is fighting for EM

[Sean Kloczkowski]

Hi all,

Thought it wise to solicit some advice from those with much more experience and background in real estate than myself.  I am selling my house, and the buyer has decided to back out of the deal two days before closing.  

They are stating the reason to be that they cannot obtain financing for the original agreed purchase price because the appraisal came in low. Now I know this essentially grounds to allow the buyer to back out. However, the buyer had agreed to continue with the purchase after I agreed to lower the purchase price to meet the appraisal amount which they had a loan commitment for. A couple days after this agreement (2 days before closing), the buyer decided they no longer wanted to continue with the deal even at the newly agreed upon price and did not sign for the new price.

Originally they were signing the release for earnest money, but are now deciding to fight to keep this as well.  The EM is $6K. Do I have any recourse here, or should I just let it be and move on?

Thanks

[Russell Brazil]

Also local custom will play a part here. In my market if the buyer does not release the contract on the property, it can not be sold. So when there is an em dispute, the buyer will refuse to release the contract so the house sits in limbo. I dont believe this is common outside of MD/DC however.