AboutMatt Heisler Expertise I can answer questions about buying or selling your home, and questions about the market in Massachusetts, with detailed answers if you ask about my specific area in Mass, Metrowest. I can help with Investment property and the basics of financing. How to construct deals and how to find bargains and how to protect capital. Land, home sales, rehabs, fix and flips, income property are places where I could be able to assist you. I can also answer basic questions about foreclosure, short-sales, 1031 exchanges, and basic questions about how the economy and credit markets are functioning and how that affects you.
Experience My company sells residential real estate in Metrowest, and we have had a been selling real estate in the area for 20 years.
Question Last year I made a business in Orlando Florida. I rented a house with the option to buy. I gave a $6,000 deposit for the house. We went to an attorney and agreed that If I do not buy a year after (this next July) I loose the deposit. If the owner do not want to sell then I keep the money. As the year approached we just learned that the owners are in a lawsuit against the goverment because the area used to be a practice area for the army and there could be mercury and bombs on the area. People is getting very tough times in that area to re-finance and to sell. Prices had drop to more than half. The investigator told me that I have the right to get my money back if I decide not to buy because of this. The lawsuit started well after I got into the business. What do you think about this? I was told by the attorney that I do not qualify for the lawsuit since I am renting.
Thank you
Answer Hello-
Congratulations, you are one of the few folks that consulted an attorney before purchase. A wise decision. I assume your purchase agreement (which is in writing, yes?) explains the valid reason for the return of your deposit money. If the contract doesn't include an escape clause for "drop in value" or "seller lawsuit" I doubt you can get your deposit back, but don't ask me - ask the attorney who drafted the agreement. If the house is worth half what you agreed to pay, you should walk, regardless of the deposit issue. If you can do so for cause, and get your deposit back, good for you. If you can not, count yourself lucky that you didn't lose 50K on the house. You can, of course, sue the seller for non-disclosure of the material issues facing the home, but it would likely cost you more than $6000 to achieve a victory through legal action.
