4 Closure Ranch Escape Routes?

[SD Realtor]

Actually I think your friend will be okay. While the developers (and lenders) are heartless, if there is a valid hardship and the buyers no longer qualify then getting the deposit back should be a pretty seamless exercise. I do not believe you will need an attorney. I am assuming that in order to qualify for the loan, your friends wife’s income was most likely used. Now that this income is gone then there is most likely no way they can qualify for the loan.

Ask your friend to do the following. Do not sign anything that would mean you forfeit the deposit. If they do ask to sign a valid cancellation then make sure that the cancellation does indeed spell out that his deposit will be 100% refunded. Call the loan officer you have been working with and inform him/her of what has gone on with the his wife. Let him know that the income has been drastically reduced. Let him tell you that you no longer qualify. Ask him to call the sales officer and let that person know. Have him do that immediately. Then call the sales office and have another chat with the salesperson you have been dealing with. Firmly request that the escrow be cancelled AND you want your full deposit refunded. If they give you some slack let him/her know you will need to speak to someone at the corporate office. If that does not work then let them know you will be consulting with an attorney.

You can send him my email address if he needs help with the sales office. I know of a good real estate attorney but he should not need one.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Actually I think your friend will be okay. While the developers (and lenders) are heartless, if there is a valid hardship and the buyers no longer qualify then getting the deposit back should be a pretty seamless exercise. I do not believe you will need an attorney. I am assuming that in order to qualify for the loan, your friends wife’s income was most likely used. Now that this income is gone then there is most likely no way they can qualify for the loan.

Ask your friend to do the following. Do not sign anything that would mean you forfeit the deposit. If they do ask to sign a valid cancellation then make sure that the cancellation does indeed spell out that his deposit will be 100% refunded. Call the loan officer you have been working with and inform him/her of what has gone on with the his wife. Let him know that the income has been drastically reduced. Let him tell you that you no longer qualify. Ask him to call the sales officer and let that person know. Have him do that immediately. Then call the sales office and have another chat with the salesperson you have been dealing with. Firmly request that the escrow be cancelled AND you want your full deposit refunded. If they give you some slack let him/her know you will need to speak to someone at the corporate office. If that does not work then let them know you will be consulting with an attorney.

You can send him my email address if he needs help with the sales office. I know of a good real estate attorney but he should not need one.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Actually I think your friend will be okay. While the developers (and lenders) are heartless, if there is a valid hardship and the buyers no longer qualify then getting the deposit back should be a pretty seamless exercise. I do not believe you will need an attorney. I am assuming that in order to qualify for the loan, your friends wife’s income was most likely used. Now that this income is gone then there is most likely no way they can qualify for the loan.

Ask your friend to do the following. Do not sign anything that would mean you forfeit the deposit. If they do ask to sign a valid cancellation then make sure that the cancellation does indeed spell out that his deposit will be 100% refunded. Call the loan officer you have been working with and inform him/her of what has gone on with the his wife. Let him know that the income has been drastically reduced. Let him tell you that you no longer qualify. Ask him to call the sales officer and let that person know. Have him do that immediately. Then call the sales office and have another chat with the salesperson you have been dealing with. Firmly request that the escrow be cancelled AND you want your full deposit refunded. If they give you some slack let him/her know you will need to speak to someone at the corporate office. If that does not work then let them know you will be consulting with an attorney.

You can send him my email address if he needs help with the sales office. I know of a good real estate attorney but he should not need one.

SD Realtor

[bsrsharma]

SD Realtor – I don’t understand why this is so complex. If they signed a contract that had this contingency and the buyers bring evidence that the trigger events have happened, how can the builder keep the deposit? A simple letter warning them you may file a suit should do the trick. If they are confidently keeping the deposit, I can only infer that there was no applicable contingency clause in the contract.

[bsrsharma]

SD Realtor – I don’t understand why this is so complex. If they signed a contract that had this contingency and the buyers bring evidence that the trigger events have happened, how can the builder keep the deposit? A simple letter warning them you may file a suit should do the trick. If they are confidently keeping the deposit, I can only infer that there was no applicable contingency clause in the contract.

[bsrsharma]

SD Realtor – I don’t understand why this is so complex. If they signed a contract that had this contingency and the buyers bring evidence that the trigger events have happened, how can the builder keep the deposit? A simple letter warning them you may file a suit should do the trick. If they are confidently keeping the deposit, I can only infer that there was no applicable contingency clause in the contract.

[bsrsharma]

SD Realtor – I don’t understand why this is so complex. If they signed a contract that had this contingency and the buyers bring evidence that the trigger events have happened, how can the builder keep the deposit? A simple letter warning them you may file a suit should do the trick. If they are confidently keeping the deposit, I can only infer that there was no applicable contingency clause in the contract.

[bsrsharma]

SD Realtor – I don’t understand why this is so complex. If they signed a contract that had this contingency and the buyers bring evidence that the trigger events have happened, how can the builder keep the deposit? A simple letter warning them you may file a suit should do the trick. If they are confidently keeping the deposit, I can only infer that there was no applicable contingency clause in the contract.

[SD Realtor]

bsr –

You are correct, this should not be complex at all. This is simply sales pressure from the sales person. Also we do not know the exact contract that they have signed. Neither of us have seen it and the presumption we are all making is that there is some sort of financing contingency in there.

However that is an assumption on all our parts yeah?

I did not mean to imply any sort of complexity here at all. Many buyers let these salespersons types steam roll them and push them around. It is more of a personality trait then anything else and these salespeople take advantage of that. Even if the contract does not have the financing contingency in it, these buyers most likely will get thier money back if they are assertive enough and yes a simple call or letter from an attorney should do the trick if the buyers cannot do it themselves.

Sometimes if buyers just have a pep talk from an advocate who is in the know, and who can review the documentation with them so that they know what trump cards to pull when talking to a salesperson, that is all that is needed.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

bsr –

You are correct, this should not be complex at all. This is simply sales pressure from the sales person. Also we do not know the exact contract that they have signed. Neither of us have seen it and the presumption we are all making is that there is some sort of financing contingency in there.

However that is an assumption on all our parts yeah?

I did not mean to imply any sort of complexity here at all. Many buyers let these salespersons types steam roll them and push them around. It is more of a personality trait then anything else and these salespeople take advantage of that. Even if the contract does not have the financing contingency in it, these buyers most likely will get thier money back if they are assertive enough and yes a simple call or letter from an attorney should do the trick if the buyers cannot do it themselves.

Sometimes if buyers just have a pep talk from an advocate who is in the know, and who can review the documentation with them so that they know what trump cards to pull when talking to a salesperson, that is all that is needed.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

bsr –

You are correct, this should not be complex at all. This is simply sales pressure from the sales person. Also we do not know the exact contract that they have signed. Neither of us have seen it and the presumption we are all making is that there is some sort of financing contingency in there.

However that is an assumption on all our parts yeah?

I did not mean to imply any sort of complexity here at all. Many buyers let these salespersons types steam roll them and push them around. It is more of a personality trait then anything else and these salespeople take advantage of that. Even if the contract does not have the financing contingency in it, these buyers most likely will get thier money back if they are assertive enough and yes a simple call or letter from an attorney should do the trick if the buyers cannot do it themselves.

Sometimes if buyers just have a pep talk from an advocate who is in the know, and who can review the documentation with them so that they know what trump cards to pull when talking to a salesperson, that is all that is needed.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

bsr –

You are correct, this should not be complex at all. This is simply sales pressure from the sales person. Also we do not know the exact contract that they have signed. Neither of us have seen it and the presumption we are all making is that there is some sort of financing contingency in there.

However that is an assumption on all our parts yeah?

I did not mean to imply any sort of complexity here at all. Many buyers let these salespersons types steam roll them and push them around. It is more of a personality trait then anything else and these salespeople take advantage of that. Even if the contract does not have the financing contingency in it, these buyers most likely will get thier money back if they are assertive enough and yes a simple call or letter from an attorney should do the trick if the buyers cannot do it themselves.

Sometimes if buyers just have a pep talk from an advocate who is in the know, and who can review the documentation with them so that they know what trump cards to pull when talking to a salesperson, that is all that is needed.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

bsr –

You are correct, this should not be complex at all. This is simply sales pressure from the sales person. Also we do not know the exact contract that they have signed. Neither of us have seen it and the presumption we are all making is that there is some sort of financing contingency in there.

However that is an assumption on all our parts yeah?

I did not mean to imply any sort of complexity here at all. Many buyers let these salespersons types steam roll them and push them around. It is more of a personality trait then anything else and these salespeople take advantage of that. Even if the contract does not have the financing contingency in it, these buyers most likely will get thier money back if they are assertive enough and yes a simple call or letter from an attorney should do the trick if the buyers cannot do it themselves.

Sometimes if buyers just have a pep talk from an advocate who is in the know, and who can review the documentation with them so that they know what trump cards to pull when talking to a salesperson, that is all that is needed.

SD Realtor

[cyphire]

I would think that everyone who is considering knife catching would read this above thread.

The emotional, wine and dine, telling everyone how rosy the future is, and what best friends the 4S salesmen are, all changes when the ink is dry and there are second thoughts.

Now they are the enemy, keeping a deposit on a home which has not yet, in fact, been occupied.

I learned the hardway in business after 20 years, that if a buyer gets cold feet, just give them back all the money. My situation is different, in that I would actually have installed a computer system, trained the client, spent large amounts of money, but same deal… If the buyer has remorse, try to hold your line but ultimately you are destroying your goodwill if you try to keep the deposit, and more if they are forced to keep the home or have financial responsibility for it.

Buyer beware!!! Don’t buy unless you are 100% totally behind the purchase – or have the mother of all escape clauses. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these builders are hanging by a thread.

p.s. All the builders are at their lowest confidence ever. None of them expect any 2008 rebound, I think they just want to weather the storm.

[cyphire]

I would think that everyone who is considering knife catching would read this above thread.

The emotional, wine and dine, telling everyone how rosy the future is, and what best friends the 4S salesmen are, all changes when the ink is dry and there are second thoughts.

Now they are the enemy, keeping a deposit on a home which has not yet, in fact, been occupied.

I learned the hardway in business after 20 years, that if a buyer gets cold feet, just give them back all the money. My situation is different, in that I would actually have installed a computer system, trained the client, spent large amounts of money, but same deal… If the buyer has remorse, try to hold your line but ultimately you are destroying your goodwill if you try to keep the deposit, and more if they are forced to keep the home or have financial responsibility for it.

Buyer beware!!! Don’t buy unless you are 100% totally behind the purchase – or have the mother of all escape clauses. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these builders are hanging by a thread.

p.s. All the builders are at their lowest confidence ever. None of them expect any 2008 rebound, I think they just want to weather the storm.

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