Problem with closing

[rocketman]

What is the name of your state? Texas

We have signed a contract to sell our home with a closing date of March 31st. We started packing and had everything cleared out by the 28th of Mar. On the 24th of March we find out that the buyer changed from conventional to FHA. We were told on the 28th that the closing was changed to the 1st of April, then we were told it was changed to the 7th of April, then it was changed to the 11th of April, then it was changed to the18th of April. That is where it stands today, the 16th. Needless to say, we had to pay for renting an apartment for the month of March and April, and we also had to pay another house payment on the 1st of April since we did not close as orginally schedule on the 31st of March. Do we have an recourse against the buyer to recoup either the April house payment of the renting of the apartment? If we had known in the beginning that we would close until the middle of April we could have stayed in our home longer. The orginal contract was signed the first part of March around the 3rd. Thank you.

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by rocketman
What is the name of your state? Texas

We have signed a contract to sell our home with a closing date of March 31st. We started packing and had everything cleared out by the 28th of Mar. On the 24th of March we find out that the buyer changed from conventional to FHA. We were told on the 28th that the closing was changed to the 1st of April, then we were told it was changed to the 7th of April, then it was changed to the 11th of April, then it was changed to the18th of April. That is where it stands today, the 16th. Needless to say, we had to pay for renting an apartment for the month of March and April, and we also had to pay another house payment on the 1st of April since we did not close as orginally schedule on the 31st of March. Do we have an recourse against the buyer to recoup either the April house payment of the renting of the apartment? If we had known in the beginning that we would close until the middle of April we could have stayed in our home longer. The orginal contract was signed the first part of March around the 3rd. Thank you.

**A: where is your real estate agent and why hasn't your agent advised you of the financing contract contingencies.

[rocketman]

Our Agent was the person advising us each time the closing date was changed. She would let us know as soon as she found out that the seller's mortgage company wanted something else which kept delaying the closing. I blame the buyer mostly, because they changed financing one week before closing. I don't want to cancel the sale of the house, because we are having a new home built (our retirement home) and it will be finished in June. Thanks

[Souix]

I think what HGuru is trying to figure out is why had your agent not told you about the financing contingency in your contract? I am assuming you are the seller? Your last response was confusing in relation to who is the buyer and who is the seller.

Did the contract state conventional financing at first? Was an addendum signed by all parties changing the financing to FHA? Did your agent advise you that you could cancel the transaction if you did not want to sell FHA?

Actually,. with all those extension I would be scared. You could have canceled along time ago and gotten a better buyer. Now you've got a buyer with FHA terms. Did your agent tell you about the costs the seller is required to pay on an FHA loan or other things that go along with FHA financing? Call your agent and get the exact status. It's been my experience that FHA loans are taking anywhere from 45 to 60 days to close. Good Luck!

[rocketman]

I am the seller. We have signed changes several times to the orginal contract. Our agent told us of the change to FHA, but what even she did not know was the extent of the new requirements above and beyond what are normal FHA requirements that related to this individual buyer. We are not paying any additional costs because of the change to FHA other than having to pay for an apartment and a house payment at the same time. We could have stayed in our home another month if we had known of the change sooner than one week before closing. Thanks

[Souix]

Originally posted by rocketman
I am the seller. We have signed changes several times to the orginal contract. Our agent told us of the change to FHA, but what even she did not know was the extent of the new requirements above and beyond what are normal FHA requirements that related to this individual buyer. We are not paying any additional costs because of the change to FHA other than having to pay for an apartment and a house payment at the same time. We could have stayed in our home another month if we had known of the change sooner than one week before closing. Thanks

***Its my opinion that you were advised improperly by your agent. When the change to FHA was agreed to and the extensions were agreed to, then your occupancy agreement should have changed too. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like that was ever addressed. Ask your agent to reimburse you for your additional expenses, as you were not properly protected.***

[HomeGuru]

I agree, as it appears that the contract was one-sided in favor of the Buyer.

[rocketman]

Thanks to all for the inputs. If this new home that we are building wasn't exactly what we wanted, we would have backed out after the first sign of a problem in closing. Thanks again.

[HomeGuru]

Good luck to you.