Buying or Selling a Home/Breech of contract

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Expert: - 6/8/2006


Question

 We have a contract on a house owned by a bank.  The title search
turned up a third lein on the house.  It is past our contract deadline
and we can't get any answers from the listing realitor or the bank
as to what is going on.  The listing realitor told our agent that she
wanted us to sign off on the property.  What can we do to get
better treatment?

Answer
Dear Lou Ann;
Since you are past contract deadline you can have your agent send out a notice of this fact with a "time is of the essence" clause giving a "drop dead" date.  Once this date is reached they will have to release you from contract if they have not closed on the property.  Ordinarily, when things go awry, all parties are kept informed of the process and problems so that there is mutual agreement upon what to do and when to do it.  Working with banks and third liens can be tricky.  I suggest that you be patient and if all else fails, contact your attorney and ask for him/her to get involved.  Sometimes the attorney will write a letter or make a phone call that results in more rapid response.  I have found however,that if I just keep on calling and inquiring on a regular basis--sometimes several times a day, they get me answers and there is less hostility.  Tell your agent to call and very nicely inquire over and over again what is going on.  It is amazing how well this works.  No matter how short or snippy they are, by being nice but diligent, they will eventually want to put an end to the calls and get the job done.

Hope this helps.
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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