I have lost a lot of money becuz of Realtors. Just last week I got a nice little 2/1 on contract for 26K Needed a lot of work. I found it by writing yellow letters to absentee owners. I met one of my cash buyers at the house and we agreed to 32K. The resident of the house came out and said my Aunt (The Seller) said not to show the house anymore cuz its sold. I told him yea I know, I got it under contract and Im buying it.
I immedietely called the seller and she tells me she got an offer of almost twice what Im paying her and the Realtor told her what Im doing is Illegal and shes going to list it and do things legit. I tried to explain that wer going thru a Title company and everything is legit but she wudnt listen. She tells me to lose her phone number cuz she don’t trust me.
My buyer wanted to contact his lawyer and force this lady to sell to us. I told him its not worth it. And if u force an old lady to sell her dead mothers house to us, it cud get us a bad reputation. Then my buyer wanted to sue the Realtor for “Tortious Interference”
I told him that will cost you more than this deal is worth.
I suggested filing some complaints with the Realtors board. I had the buyer call the lady and ask about the house to get the Realtors name. She would only say that the house has been sold and will close at the end of the month.
It’s really frustrating, I’ve lost a half dozen deals becuz of Realtors, and Ive only been doing Real Estate less than 2 yrs.
And what’s crazy is, I have a few bird dogs that are Licensed Realtors and they understand the process.
What the heck wud you do?
I don’t have your problem all that often, but I have other investors trying to horn in on my deals often enough (mainly due to non-sifted advertising, where the seller is dialing every “I Buy Houses” ad online, and I’m just one of ten investors they call). Of course, the way I advertise they’re calling me first, and I’m on the deal like flies on poopy.
The solution is to lien the property with a memorandum of interest, immediately upon signing a contract, and waiting, if nothing else.
I’ve done this numerous times, but not every time.
Meantime, when I get a contract on a property, ‘and’ I’m suspicious the seller is going to continue to shop my offer (or call a real estate agent to get a second opinion on ‘my deal’), I record the memorandum, and either close as agreed, or will get a phone call from the seller telling me to take a hike.
On the ‘take a hike’ call, I explain …to the seller… that I have a contract with them, that is enforceable, on which I am willing and able to close.
Then I ask them, “Would you like to close as scheduled, or keep your house for the time being?”
Of course, the seller says, “I’m not selling to you!”
I say, “That’s fine, and you won’t be selling to anyone else either. And by the way, I’ve recorded a memorandum of our agreement with the county recorders office, and you can remove the lien two ways; pay me off, or sell the house to me. Either way, it’s your decision, and we both win.”
If things actually get that toxic…the seller is not likely to sell to us. That doesn’t mean we have to remove the lien. AND we can lien the property ‘after’ the seller changes his mind, as long as we actually have a signed and dated purchase agreement.
Meantime, the law favors the buyer, not the seller …except for us professional buyers… Then we’re screwed, if we end up in court.
Meantime again, we wait for the sellers to figure out they can’t actually sell and get a marketable title without our cooperation, or without going to court, or without paying us off. (insert evil laugh here).
I like to wait, and watch the seller have a meltdown, and then offer me money to walk away. This way I get paid ‘not to buy.’ (insert another, more-evil, laugh here). :beer
Yea I thought about notarizing and recording my contract, it was only for 45 days though. Maybe next time I’ll not have a time limit. And the contract will be in force forever. This was such a sweet old lady that turned on me like a demon from the abyss. I cant blame her though, they perceive a Realtor to have legal knowledge and actually they are quite ignorant about real estate laws and quite desperate in this economy. In my opinion.
There is no time limit once the lien has been filed. If the seller prohibits you from closing, your claim remains viable.
Practically speaking, if the seller keeps you from performing, you have a right to specific performance. However, I’ve never sued to perfect a purchase agreement, but I have been offered money to walk away, after refusing to allow a sale to a third party.
I’ve had partners try to pull money out of a project without my permission. I’ve had others try to sell the project without my permission. I had all sorts of little things go on in my career, and each time my recorded agreement was the sharp stick that staved off a shark attack.
BTW, screw those ‘nice, little, old ladies.’ They are notorious for saying one thing, and doing something completely advantage-taking.
I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them across the floor of the County Recorders Office. I’m serious. And I’m fat, with no upper body strength, so that’s not very far.
So, u think I still have time to record my contract? My contract is in force for another 25 days and the seller said to my buyer that it was sold and scheduled to close at the end of this month.
The Title Company obviously did a title search and when it closes will my lien show up?
Your lien might not show up immediately. And that’s why you should inform the seller upon recording the memorandum that you’ve done so.
The title company has a more efficient method of checking title than the average person does, and they will recheck it before they put the title policy in force.
Your lien, if properly recorded, will effectively cloud the title, and since no dollar amount is indicated, it would be practically impossible to bond around it, in the event the seller was that aggressive.
This is a lot of messing around for a deal this small, but it should make good practice.
Did you not take the signed contract immediately to a Title company to open title on the property? Not sure which state you’re in but if you’ve put up earnest money, even $1, then the contract is valid and the seller must perform according to the terms outlined in the contract. If they don’t want to sell to you, you can cloud the title and they can’t sell the property to anyone else until you release them. As long as you perform your side, they must perform their side or risk legal action or mediation.
I had a property under contract when my seller got a better offer. He ended up paying me $5k to release him from the contract! Easiest deal I ever did.
good luck!
Realtors can be the worse. They are so not knowledgeable! Sorry to hear.