daft batty

theres many things i woudl rather do, but sometimes you have to do stuff you dont like

dbd33

Well, yes. A lawyer is currently holding some of my money; I go out of my way each morning to see if his office is still there.

BH PNP

Hi Chinnybloke

As I understand the situation it sounds like you have been happy up to this point with the agent you've been working with...In my opinion it sounds like the house listing has expired (which means the contract the listing agent has/had with the seller has expired in duration) If the seller is not available to be contacted, than the listing agent cannot make any "sale based" decisions on behalf of the seller outside of that contract.

At this point I figure the listing agent is probably trying to get in touch with his/her seller to communicate that they have an offer. At which time you do decide to put an official offer in on the property there should be a time constraint as to how long the offer is open (this way you'll get a guaranteed answer within the duration of time you & the agent specify - usually 4-8 hours) If the offer is then accepted, you the buyer shall be required to give a predetermined amount as a deposit (generally $1000 Cad +/-) they may ask for a little more due to you being out of the country - shows commitment. As far as your relationship with the agent you've been dealing with, if they have been showing you houses and working on your behalf for any length of time it would be fair to say that an "agency" relationship has been established...therefore if you were debating calling the listing agent or another agent to gain info about the house or other houses this could turn a little messy.

So in conclusion, I would recommend trying to contact your agent and verifying where you are in the process, ie. if that house will come back on the market once the seller is contacted, or if your agent is trying to avoid you. Make a few attempts to re-establish communication and if nothing comes out then at that point you may be entitled to use another agent.

There is good and bad in all industries, Real Estate is no different. It is especially hard with thousands of miles/ multi hours between. As the old BT advert so happily pointed out.......... it's good to talk.

Griff

Funny how the originator of this thread has not posted again!!!!!

Purley

For what it's worth. I qualified as a realtor in Saskatchewan about 10 years ago . How it works here is that when you make an offer, you attach a cheque for the deposit that you think is appropriate. We were told that if we acted for the purchaser we should get as high a deposit as possible. This was because once the vendor has accepted the offer in writing, the deal is final. But, if you offer them a $300 deposit and someone else comes along with a better offer, the purchaser can afford to say "to heck with the $300 - I will just lose that money and take the better offer".

At least that was it was explained to us. We took the deposit cheque and held it in our file. We did not deposit it in the bank until the vendor had accepted the offer and all the conditions were satisfied and the deal was definitely going ahead.

startwin

I Haven't read all the responses so please forgive me if I'm repeating stuff. I am a conveyancer, not a realtor, but maybe I can help you figure this out.

It sounds like your realtor may have been a bit sloppy BUT over the Christmas and New Year period sellers are often away and/or simply do not want to look at contracts. The fact that it has disappeared from MLS may be because the listing expired. It may reappear if it's been re-signed or extended. However, the seller may have decided to take it off the market. Your agent may well be trying to contact the parties involved to find out, and may have reported back to you by now. If it was removed because it was sold, your agent can find that out within minutes by just entering the MLS number on the local real estate board system. Sales are reported to the Board by the listing broker when all subjects are removed and the sale is "firm". Then it is shows as "sold" on the system.

As for deposits - it is customary to provide an initial deposit in good faith at time of writing the contract. The amount depends on the actual listing, all kinds of circumstances, whatever. The deposit may in fact be written to be tendered upon subject removal, or right up front. There are many variables, your agent would advise you which way to go. It can be anywhere from a minimal amount to $10,000 or more. The deposit would be placed in the agent's company trust account. The downpayment happens later, and you will have to cough that up at time of signing docs at the lawyer/notary office. The deposit is credited towards your purchase price.

Do not be put off of using a realtor in a purchase. It affords you much more protection than doing it on your own, if there are problems it gives you the agent, his company local real estate board/council to fall back on. Also, unless you have agreed to pay your realtor a commission for the purchase, the seller normally pays the commission. And remember that a good realtor (most of them are) will do many hours of research and work for you, so use it to your best advantage. Purchasing a house is a huge undertaking, so use all the resources available to you.

At time of writing a contract, you would likely make it subject to inspection and financing. It is binding on both parties right from the get-go - unlike in the UK - though the seller would be able to accept back-up offers until you remove your subject conditions. When you remove subjects, it is customary to also increase your deposit, depending on how much the initial deposit was.

I hope by now your situation has been clarified. And I hope my posting helps a bit. Good luck - things happen for a reason, and if this purchase fell through something else will come along. And if you're really not happy with your realtor, just get someone else.

startwin

I'm very surprised to read that. A seller cannot legally increase the price once he has accepted an offer. He can try to find ways to wiggle out of the contract and then list it at a higher price - which would be very difficult - but accepted offers are binding on both parties even prior to subjects being removed.

dbd33

Oh yes, in theory it's an enforceable contract, but practically speaking there's not much the buyer can do but to cough up or walk away. If the buyer wants to go to court he'll have to find somewhere to live for the several years it takes to launch an action. In that case we had removed all but one of the subjects when the gas company acted upon an easement on the property and dug up the driveway. They replaced the driveway which the vendor felt increased the value of the property; she asked us for an extra $50,000. We refused and walked. We could have sued but since we're three years into an immigration hearing and I'm many many years into a divorce case I have no faith in anything involving lawyers in Ontario ever reaching a conclusion. We found somewhere else.

I've only dealt with buying six properties in Ontario and selling one but I haven't seen the deposit mechanism you describe. It's always been an offer with no money down, a deposit five days later and the balance on closing day. Which province are you working in?

daft batty

you know, i can see you doing that

iaink

Given his luck with all things lawyery in Canada I dont blame him!

dbd33

Well, they're such dishonest ****ers and I can ill afford to lose it. If you're not careful they send you a statement out of the blue "lost your file, looked for it, 10 hours @ $400. Please replenish trust account." One should know where one's lawyer lives and whether his kids are at UCC or Appleby.

startwin

BC. However, what you have done is not necessarily the norm. Offers are sometimes written with the deposit to be tendered within so many days, but it is entirely up to the seller to accept or change that or not to accept at all.

The situation you described with the driveway and increased price is also something that would not normally happen. Yes your recourse would have been to sue - I would have - but I can see why you walked away. However the chances of something like that happening are really remote and just your bad luck. I'd be interested to hear if the seller ever ended up getting an extra $50,000 for a new driveway! Also, if he was listed on MLS with a realtor, the realtor would have strongly advised him against that action, I'm sure.

dbd33

Yes, she got the $50,000. I guess it's about a quarter mile of driveway and replacing it included some new post and rail fence. I'd think the improvement was worth the money; I just didn't have the cash. I doubt the estate agent was distressed over it as that'd be about $2,000 in his pocket.

I suppose I could have sued, that would have cost $20,000 or so plus the cost of living somewhere for a few years while it came to court but what good would have come of it? The new owner wouldn't be likely to move out for us and the seller likely wouldn't have any money to compensate us. The only winners would be the lawyers (as always). We thought it better to shake our heads and move on. I think the lesson is just that the deal's not done until you're sitting on the porch.

Biiiiink

Is it really over then? -I'd never heard of title insurance until the other day.

yonk

Going a bit OT but I've not been able to find the answer yet and FSBO/realtors were mentioned above...

Who writes the offer if you offer on a FSBO property? Can you still use a realtor - do you then pay them as a buying agent?

I'm virtually househunting and found a property on WeList but I'm also registering with a realtor so I'm wondering how it works contractually.