 Dear George: I'm the back-up buyer on a house. My real estate agent also represents the first buyers. The first buyers have four or five contingencies, including financing and the sale of their current home. They're 65 years old and recently changed their funding source to 100% qualified over a 30-year term. When my offer was accepted as a back-up offer by the owners, who are over 80 years old, the first buyers waived some contingencies yet cannot act on the others for two months. The sellers really want to get out of the contract with the first buyers, as the sellers want to mover closer to their family and better hospitals.
The sellers asked if I could help them find out if there is any way out of the contract with the first buyers. Is there any way for the sellers can get out of or restructure the first contract? Can I do anything? I am 100% qualified to buy the house now.
Answer: The fact that the real estate agent represents both buyers is a problem. Since the agent intimately knows both deals, which one does he favor over the other? Does he tell the other buyers what is going on without disclosing secrets? As for the contract, the parties are held to a duty of care of having read and understood everything the parties sign. Any additional contingencies added to the contract would have had to have been reduced to writing, as in an Amendment To Contract, and signed by the sellers and first buyers. What happened here was an unforeseen circumstance based on the peculiar facts in this situation. No contract can anticipate every possible alternative. The first buyers are merely exercising the rights they bargained for. You, as the second buyer, have no interest in the first deal.
Dear George: I bought an investment home and found a renter six months later. The tenant signed a one-year lease, and now, eight months later, says he is moving. What is the law on charging him the remainder of the lease? If I can charge him for those months, can I rent out the home right after he vacates? He is being relocated to Indiana, and the company has asked what the price is to buy out the lease. Can he do that?
Answer: If the tenant's company is willing to buy out the lease, you can discount the value of the future rents to present value dollars and settle. As long as you and your tenant agrees in writing, you can release him from any further obligations from the rental contract. Suing someone who's moved across the country for rent owed in Texas is a losing proposition in most circumstances.
| Dear George: I am selling my property with a Texas REALTOR®, and she tells me that closing costs are usually split 50/50 between buyers and sellers. I've already reduced the price of the house significantly, paid all the taxes, agreed to pay the REALTOR®'s commission, offered a home warranty, and paid for my neighborhood association transfer plus survey. The buyer is paying for the title insurance. I don't think I should have to pay anything else. What do you think?
Answer: The TREC-promulgated contract contains the entire agreement between the parties. There are no "usual" closing costs paid by a seller in a specific transaction that the seller does not agree in writing to pay. The blank in Paragraph 12 of the contract that deals with costs that the seller must pay (stated as a specific dollar amount) refers to a situation whereby the buyer's loan is an FHA, VA, Texas Veterans Housing Assistance Program, or other governmental loan program that prohibits the buyer from paying those specific expenses. If there are any funds left over from the amount specified in that blank and the buyer's lender allows it, the excess money is allocated to those other buyer’s costs.
If a buyer’s loan is not an FHA, VA, Texas Veterans Housing Assistance Program, or other governmental loan program that prohibits the buyer from paying those specific expenses and if that blank is marked "0" or "N/A," or anything other than a dollar amount, you are only bound by the contract to pay those selling costs assigned to the seller. The buyer is bound by the contract to pay those selling costs assigned to the buyer, unless you and the buyer agree to some other division in writing that is also approved by the buyer’s lender.
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