Expert: Dick Dennis - 7/19/2009

Question
I found a new house to buy, and put my current house up for sale, and accepted an offer on my current house.  Now the deal on my new house has fallen through because of inspection and disclosure issues.  Can I back out of selling my current home?  I of course am willing to reimburse the prospective buyer of my current house for the money they spent for an inspection, etc. up to this point.

Answer
If you had a Realtor helping you with either the purchase of the new house or the sale of your existing house, then that person is not the professional that should have guided you through this, Lori.

First of all, you should not have offered to buy the new house without inserting a continency saying something like, "This offer to purchase is subject to the sale and successful closing of Buyer's existing house located at 1234 Main St." Chances are, based on your inspection and disclosure issues, you would not have thought you had bought that property, therefore you would not have had a sale of your existing house. A good Realtor would have known all this and protected you from this occurance.

Conversely, Lori, you should not have accepted the sale of your existing house without inserting a clause stating something like, "This offer to purchase is accepted with the provision Seller's purchase of the property at 4567 Anywhere St. has a successful closing." Again, your Realtor should have protected you on this.

If you did not have a Realtor in any of this, shame on you. Now you know why you should have a very knowledgeable and experienced Realtor working with you. You can offer to reimburse your prospective buyer and hope that will be sufficient because the buyer could take you to court to force you to sell your house under specific performance. If the buyer does accept it, then you have to make sure the buyer signs a release of any claim, which a good local real estate attorney can create for you.

I recommend you consult with a good local real estate attorney to help you out of this mess, if the buyer refuses to cooperate. I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com