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Buying or Selling a Home/Breaking a contract with a builder

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Question
Hi, I am in a contract in FL for a preconstruction townhome.  It has been about a yr or so since I signed and the unit will be ready in about a month.  I have, in the past few weeks seen resales of similar units at lower prices than I am paying and don't think I am getting a very good value.  I want to break my contract as the builder will not give any more incentives but they claim they will take my deposit if I do so.  I think I might have an out though, because they offered me incentives if I used their lender, and just last week they changed their lender to a different one.  I still have to use this "new" lender to get any incentives but I feel that they changed the deal, so I should be able to walk if I wanted to.  What do you think?

Answer
Dear Mike;
Breaking a contract can be tricky and I think that anyone contemplating it should consult with their attorney first.  However, I do think that if you can't get out by other means, (and the lender thing is a little weak) you might get out because the home doesn't appraise at the higher price.  How about calling an appraiser and talking about values in the market right now.  When prices fall and values are no longer as they were a year ago, you have reason to get out of the contract or get a renegotiated price.  I hope that there is an appraisal clause in your contract.

Good luck and best wishes.

Jessica Bryan

Buying or Selling a Home

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Jessica Bryan

Expertise

buying and selling process such as:
General questions from first time buyers
How to market a home
Why choose a REALTOR
How do I find a REALTOR
Should I consider buying or selling without a REALTOR--how much can I save
Should I remodel or move
How much can I expect to gain by fixing up my home before selling
Helpful tips when selling
Helpful tips when buying
finding a good mortgage loan
what is the difference between banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers
Questions from the general public, people thinking about getting their real estate license, newly licensed.
Fellow professionals who have interests in networking and how to get started
What is a market evaluation and how does it differ from an appraisal what are the different loan programs
services a REALTOR can perform
when to use a lawyer
when to use escrow
what are the regional differences in the buying and selling process
what is the MLS and how does it work
how can the layman access information on the web--listings and other information
These are just a few of the questions. I can suggest that if I am unable to answer a question I will refer the inquiry to a source that can.

Experience

Anyone who is in this business and who dedicates oneself to professionalism has continued to take classes and along with it,additional credentials, awards and honors. I can list a host of them, but my greatest accomplishments happen to be those of getting first time buyers (who didn't think they could afford to buy a home)into a home of their dreams. The look on their faces when I hand over the keys is worth all of the hard work.

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