What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas
I'm in the middle of a FSBO purchase with an elderly gentleman (80 y/o). There is quite a generational gap between the seller and me, so I've tried to be respectful of doing things "old school" - in person for everything. No email, phone calls only to set appointments, etc. When we negotiated the deal, we sat down at his dining room table, hashed out a deal, shook hands, and signed a commitment to buy form (not a formal contract) listing the details to be put into the contract. A week later I stopped by with a contract detailing the transaction - price, inspections, financing contingency, etc. Total of 17 pages. I got the form from a site that provides real estate contracts for my state (Kansas City Associate of Realtors). We reviewed and initialed every page together, and I told him he could take a few days if he wanted to review it all with an attorney prior to signing. The last page even said if either party did not understand something, to review it with an attorney. We both signed that evening - but there are no witnesses other than an elderly lady (his girlfriend?) who was in the next room watching T.V.
Part of the deal was that he pay our closing costs up to $4500 - it is spelled out on the "financial terms" page of the contract. This is where my concerns come in. Several times since then, I have started to get the impression that he's a smidge forgetful. Two times he's said things to me that I know he'd already mentioned (things he was planning to have repaired, introduced me to his girlfriend again), and then when we were negotiating some expenses for foundation repair, he had forgotten about agreeing to pay closing costs. We ended up coming to an agreement for the repairs, and signed an addendum that we wrote out on how that would go down.
Then this last Friday, I called him to say the appraisal came back good and our financing was 100% approved, so the deal is sealed - now we just wait for closing day. On that call he said that he'd talked to his son, and was asked if there were any closing costs he had to pay, to which he apparently said he didn't know. I said yes, I believe they will deduct those from the proceeds of the sale before funds are disbursed. His tone indicated that he was possibly confused by that idea. We moved on and he said he'd call me this week to let me know when he could move in to his apartment, and we'd schedule closing for right around that day.
I'm starting to get concerned about this closing cost thing. As the buyer, I obviously put my best interests first, but not at the expense of being straight forward, honest, respectful, accommodating, and transparent with the seller. My concern is that one of two things will happen - either the seller will freak out at closing when he is once again reminded of his share of closing costs, or, with his son possibly getting involved, if he is not satisfied that his dad is getting a good deal, he can argue coercion or something and get his dad out of the contract, since there were no witnesses to negotiation or contract signing. His son is a senior law enforcement officer, so he may have some persuasion with local judges, if it comes to that.
Is there something I can or should do at this point? Should I try to contact the son and just talk about how the deal went down, and my concerns about his dad possibly being forgetful, or just let it ride and see what happens at closing, since it is a signed and sealed contract?
I'm in the middle of a FSBO purchase with an elderly gentleman (80 y/o). There is quite a generational gap between the seller and me, so I've tried to be respectful of doing things "old school" - in person for everything. No email, phone calls only to set appointments, etc. When we negotiated the deal, we sat down at his dining room table, hashed out a deal, shook hands, and signed a commitment to buy form (not a formal contract) listing the details to be put into the contract. A week later I stopped by with a contract detailing the transaction - price, inspections, financing contingency, etc. Total of 17 pages. I got the form from a site that provides real estate contracts for my state (Kansas City Associate of Realtors). We reviewed and initialed every page together, and I told him he could take a few days if he wanted to review it all with an attorney prior to signing. The last page even said if either party did not understand something, to review it with an attorney. We both signed that evening - but there are no witnesses other than an elderly lady (his girlfriend?) who was in the next room watching T.V.
Part of the deal was that he pay our closing costs up to $4500 - it is spelled out on the "financial terms" page of the contract. This is where my concerns come in. Several times since then, I have started to get the impression that he's a smidge forgetful. Two times he's said things to me that I know he'd already mentioned (things he was planning to have repaired, introduced me to his girlfriend again), and then when we were negotiating some expenses for foundation repair, he had forgotten about agreeing to pay closing costs. We ended up coming to an agreement for the repairs, and signed an addendum that we wrote out on how that would go down.
Then this last Friday, I called him to say the appraisal came back good and our financing was 100% approved, so the deal is sealed - now we just wait for closing day. On that call he said that he'd talked to his son, and was asked if there were any closing costs he had to pay, to which he apparently said he didn't know. I said yes, I believe they will deduct those from the proceeds of the sale before funds are disbursed. His tone indicated that he was possibly confused by that idea. We moved on and he said he'd call me this week to let me know when he could move in to his apartment, and we'd schedule closing for right around that day.
I'm starting to get concerned about this closing cost thing. As the buyer, I obviously put my best interests first, but not at the expense of being straight forward, honest, respectful, accommodating, and transparent with the seller. My concern is that one of two things will happen - either the seller will freak out at closing when he is once again reminded of his share of closing costs, or, with his son possibly getting involved, if he is not satisfied that his dad is getting a good deal, he can argue coercion or something and get his dad out of the contract, since there were no witnesses to negotiation or contract signing. His son is a senior law enforcement officer, so he may have some persuasion with local judges, if it comes to that.
Is there something I can or should do at this point? Should I try to contact the son and just talk about how the deal went down, and my concerns about his dad possibly being forgetful, or just let it ride and see what happens at closing, since it is a signed and sealed contract?