First time home buyers...

[Terry Moore]

What is the name of your state?....... Alaska

Hello, I can't find any help. Perhaps we can find some advice here. We have been looking for a house for months, finally found one we both liked..actually my husband loved. We got the realtor and went and looked at the house., I really liked it, told the realitor and the owner. Left and my husband went to see it, he "really" liked it. Okay, what do we do next. Realtor says, ah they donot really want to sell its been on the market for 1.5 years. I though she was kidding or being silly. I said, look the house is for sell we would like to buy it, period. We did the offer, which by the way we had no problem with the sellers price, all we asked was help with closing cost. We were pre-qualified so we gave 1000.00 earnest money. Long time went by and the realtor said the sellers wanted more earnest money..? Okay, we give another 1,000.00 for earnest money, and they refuse to pay any closing cost. Okay, we agree to pay for everything. All this well over a months time this all is taking..we are feeling the realtor is not being honest with us at all. Then the realtor calls and says the seller found another buyer who will pay more. Now..how can the other buyer pay for more if we are paying the price set for the house, the closing cost..inspecter etc..? We know they are not being truthful in all of this and this is very upsetting that we have agreed to all terms..except put it in writing that they could use the garage for two full months after the sell of the home. Mainly because the VA said they would not warranty the loan because of liability concerns..the real estate person said she does it all the time. I said it was not lawful, the owner uses the shop-garage for business purposes. I just didnot want to put everything at risk. So..our perfect home we looked for for so long and tied up another month into all this silly back and forth stuff..and we find, bang..sorry..we found another buyer. When in fact we met their price and then some..anyway. I believe they are both lieing, the realtor and the seller. Anything we can do on this ? Thanks...T. Moore

 

[qdaemon]

Well, if you didn't have a contract then ask for your earnest money back and keep looking. You probably wouldn't want to deal with these people anyway. And if you think your realtor is lying to you then fire him/her.

 

[JETX]

Did both parties sign a contract on the property. If so, and the sellers are now in breach, talk with an attorney. If there was no contract, then hopefully you can get your money back (why would ANYONE give earnest money without a contract??!) and continue hunting.

 

[Terry Moore]

First time home buyer...

Yes, there were earnest money contracts..each and everytime . The first when a 1,000.00 was not enough and then when 2,000.00 was not enough..sellers signed nothing. They wanted 4,000.00 earnest money at last meeting..which we did not understand since earnest money has nothing to do with them. But, we were going to put it up..when the realtor called to say, someone else got the house. And when she said the other buyers offered more..we are upset because no one gave us the chance to respond. And..I was wondering..actually I just believe they are all lieing. Today I was going to find out "who" the buyer was and what offer that was suppose to be better than ours..because we "agreed" to sellers price, and "all" closing costs etc. I don't get it ? We knew the sellers were strange..Fairbanks is a small town..but we do like the house. We just feel like there should be ways to protect honest folks who do an honest deal. No doubt we'll report the agent to the board for her role in this. Thanks for the feedback..I'm mad, my husband is hurt.

 

[JETX]

Your post is a little confusing.
You say, "Yes, there were earnest money contracts..each and everytime . The first when a 1,000.00 was not enough and then when 2,000.00 was not enough..sellers signed nothing."

If the seller didn't sign ANY agreements ("sellers signed nothing"), then what agreements DO you have?? BTW, agreements require signatures of ALL parties.

Further, you said, "because we "agreed" to sellers price, and "all" closing costs etc. I don't get it ?"
Did the seller 'agree' to this in writing?? If not, then there wasn't an agreement.

Lets try this again...
Was there a SALES agreement signed by the seller??
Without it, you have no agreement to purchase the property!!

 

[Terry Moore]

First time home buyer...

OKAY....I am sorry. We put the agreements in with realtor..money etc..each time we did the seller kepted saying, we want more earnest money. Okay..we give up in money what they want and turn it in to realtor, then the realtor calls..sorry we sold the house. Excuse me..but are we not allowed an honest shot here..there were no other buyers according to realtor up to two days ago. ? I'm confused. Here this realtor has been trying to sell this house for a year and a half and we do everything we are asked to do and its sold to someone else ? The only thing I can think that happened was we didnot agree to sign the paper that would allow the seller to use the garage for his business 2 months after the sell, because of libility and VA warranty reasons ? The realtor said she does that sort of thing all the time..the VA said no way. I give up..I just thought we were buying a house for over a month and all the seller wanted was more earnest money each and everytime we turned in an offer..the earnest money kepted going up ..Sorry..I'm just upset that we did what we were asked to do and it was sold behind our backs in two days. Sorry.....Terry Moore

 

[JETX]

So, based on your post, you don't appear to have ever had any signed SALES agreement (you still aren't clear!!).

And without SALES agreement signed by ALL parties, then there is no requirement for the seller to sell to you.... or even to negotiate with you if he gets another offer.

So, if I understand your post correctly, you just kept raising the earnest money hoping that 'someone' would sign some type of sales agreement. If correct, I hope that there is SOME type of legal obligation in place as to the earnest money you have paid... and how it will be returned to you if no agreement is signed.

In the future, do NOT offer any earnest money unless it is clearly noted in the sales agreement.... and signed by all parties.

 

[Terry Moore]

First time home buyer...

Yes..we put up 1000.00 , then the seller wanted more..we put up another 1000.00 and because we agreed to owners asking price and thought we were just trying to buy a house..? What a weird thought ! And no the seller never signed anything..they just kepted asking for "more" earnest money ? The real estate lady has the money and there is paper work..etc. I do not expect we'll have a problem getting any of that back, since like you said..the seller never signed anything. All the realtor and seller did was led us to believe we were buying a house for over a month ? Guess they think that's fun and yea, too bad for us. I guess too..that agreeing to selling price, closing cost, and all fees..does not mean you get a house either. A good lesson, and a hard lesson..now we donot trust any realtors..ugh

 

[HomeGuru]

Important points to remember:

1. all real estate contracts must be in writing to be enforceable.
2. if you are a Buyer, use your own Realtor. Do not use the Realtor for the Seller.
3. always write the earnest money check payable to your real estate broker, escrow company or closing attorney.
Do not write a check directly to the Seller or the real estate company for the Seller.

 

[qdaemon]

I have been in the situation where I made an offer for the asking price and another offer came in for higher than asking price because the other party knew there was an offer on the table and they wanted to make sure thay got the house. It can happen. On the other hand I wouldn't stay on the hook for a month without a contract, I'd keep looking.

 

[Terry Moore]

First time home buyer...

Thank you everyone...We are understanding. But the Real Estate lady was wrong in not informing us of what was expected of us through the whole process, this was a big learning process..well every time we made the offer we were told by the realtor..she just kepted saying..oh they want more ..each and everytime. ?
She just was the Realtor from hell..and from all we are told..Fairbanks is such a small town..lololo She was ..is..a bad person. Guess it happens in all fields. Thank you one and all..I got my anger out..some great advice..and a new buyers broker. We shall try again. Terry Moore

 

[HomeGuru]

Good luck to you.
On a side note, if you feel wronged by this Realtor you should be encouraged to file a complaint with the Board of Realtors and the State real estate licensing department.
You can file complaints even if this Realtor represented the Seller.
For further reading, download the Realtor Code of Ethics at www.nar.realtor.com

 

[Terry Moore]

First time home buyer...

I am being told that 3,500 is normal for earnest money..here in Fairbanks Alaska. My Aunt in Houston Texas..who is a broker says 1,000 per 190,000 is the norm. She also said that since the realtor did not inform us that the sellers wanted 4,000.00 up front period, for the house that we should sue her for being incompetent and her draging her feet caused us to lose the house..expecially when we could have put up the 4,000.00 to begin with rather than go through the things she put us through for a month. She says she's been sued for allot less a situation than this one through no fault of hers..but the company itself was sued. The Alaska housing assoc. here in Fairbanks holds classes on buying a home, we went to those classes, they said 1,000.00 to 1,500.00 is average earnest money anything above, a lawyer should be consulted. With all these mixed messages and from everyone we have talked to who have themselves brought a home..the most earnest money was 1,800.00 out of many home owners with homes in price ranges from 159,000 to 439,000. The average home price in Alaska is 189,000. Remember this house was on the market for 1.5 years..sellers were unstable with everyone, which would cause any buyer to be afraid to put up that kind of money that your willing to give up if something were to go very wrong. The realtor for two weeks expressed her fears in that, the sellersdid not want to sell period....what are we as buyers suppose to think? We offered 2,000.00 earnest money..to pay all closing..and all costs. The realtor never told us we "must" have 4,000.00 till after we made this offer..then ofcourse a sharp realtor got the deal for another buyer in three days..hummm..we are out a house because a realtor was not doing her job to begin with. What are your thoughts..Thanks...T.Moore

 

[HomeGuru]

Re: First time home buyer...

I am being told that 3,500 is normal for earnest money..here in Fairbanks Alaska. My Aunt in Houston Texas..who is a broker says 1,000 per 190,000 is the norm. She also said that since the realtor did not inform us that the sellers wanted 4,000.00 up front period, for the house that we should sue her for being incompetent and her draging her feet caused us to lose the house..expecially when we could have put up the 4,000.00 to begin with rather than go through the things she put us through for a month. She says she's been sued for allot less a situation than this one through no fault of hers..but the company itself was sued. The Alaska housing assoc. here in Fairbanks holds classes on buying a home, we went to those classes, they said 1,000.00 to 1,500.00 is average earnest money anything above, a lawyer should be consulted. With all these mixed messages and from everyone we have talked to who have themselves brought a home..the most earnest money was 1,800.00 out of many home owners with homes in price ranges from 159,000 to 439,000. The average home price in Alaska is 189,000. Remember this house was on the market for 1.5 years..sellers were unstable with everyone, which would cause any buyer to be afraid to put up that kind of money that your willing to give up if something were to go very wrong. The realtor for two weeks expressed her fears in that, the sellersdid not want to sell period....what are we as buyers suppose to think? We offered 2,000.00 earnest money..to pay all closing..and all costs. The realtor never told us we "must" have 4,000.00 till after we made this offer..then ofcourse a sharp realtor got the deal for another buyer in three days..hummm..we are out a house because a realtor was not doing her job to begin with. What are your thoughts..Thanks...T.Moore

**A: my take on this is that the amount of earnest money is not the issue, but rather the fact that the Realtor violated numerous sections of the Realtor Code of Ethics and state licensing laws. I gave you the Realtor website url, check it out an add the counts.