Legal Experience and Local Roots

Offering professional legal services to individuals and businesses since 1986.

What are some reasons why home sales often don’t go through?

On Behalf of | May 25, 2018 | Real Estate Law |

If you’ve been in the market for a home long enough, then you’ve likely had the misfortune of finding out that one you were interested in purchasing was no longer available when you went to make an offer for it.

Months later as you continue your search, you may have stumbled across it in listings your realtor sent you. You may have wondered how it went from being “under contract” to being available once again. There are a number of reasons a sale could have fallen through.

One of the reasons the sale may have not ultimately happened is because it didn’t get a passing grade when it came to the home inspection. In fact, it may have had a problem with one of the three concerns that homeowners struggle to identify problems with solely upon visual inspection of the home. These are HVAC system failures, decaying roofs and wet basements.

Inspections can often make or break whether home sales or purchases eventually go through. Buyers will often go after the seller and try to negotiate either the replacement or repair of problem issues before they’ll move forward in purchasing the home. They may ask for a credit in lieu of repairs being made so that they can select their own contractors and do things to their own liking.

In many cases, real estate purchase contracts are written so that a buyer can pull out of it without penalty if the seller refuses to perform necessary repairs.

Oftentimes, the purchase is simply contingent upon the outcome of the inspection. If it seems like the problems the home has are larger than what the buyer is interested in taking on, then he or she may pull out of the purchase, ultimately leading to the home to be placed back on the market.

Other reasons homes sales don’t go through are because of buyer or seller remorse, because a mortgage falls though or because the home’s appraised value comes back lower than expected. Another reason real estate sales may end up not occurring is if it was contingent upon the buyer selling his or her own home and it not occurring within a defined period of time.

If you’re buying or selling a home and you find yourself unable to follow though with the process, then a St. George real estate law attorney can advise you of your rights in your case.

Source: The Balance, “Pending home sales gone bad,” Ellizabeth Weintraub, accessed May 25, 2018