Agent gave us wrong information

[cortni414]

Our real estate agent calculated that we would net almost 60,000 from the sale of our house...this number in turn made us accept an offer on our house and reflected how much we were going to put down on the new house. Well after we signed the loan for the new house we realized she made a huge mistake and our net was only going to be 52,000...I contacted her broker and basically he said there was nothing they could do and we as sellers should have known what our net was going to be. My question is, is there any legal action we can take against the real estate agent/broker to make them pay for their mistake or are we just screwed? We basically have a signed contract to sell our house and a signed contract to buy a new house, so we have to sell/buy correct?

[Dwell Atlanta]

I don't think there is. It's a he say, she say situation. I never give a sellers a net. I inform them of the cost (commission), get them the HUD-1 that shows their portion of the closing cost, and point out any closing cost they are paying on behalf of buyer and let them figure it out. What makes it worse is if the seller doesn't qualify for capital gain exemption. Then you have to calculate uncle sams piece. As long as you are putting all your proceeds down on the new home you shouldn't have to worry about the last scenario I just pointed out.

Honesty, I think it ultimately the responsibility of the sellers to know their bottom line. While I don't think the agent should have quoted you, I also think you should know how many eggs you have in your basket.

Good luck.

[stevetrang]

You can get out of selling by being extremely difficult to work with on the selling end. For example, when they come back on the inspection report for things to get fixed or credited, you can flat out reject or completely ignore them. In the state of AZ, loan docs need to be at title at least 3 days before COE. If it isn't there, we can serve a cure notice, which puts them in breach after 72 hours. The problem with doing all this is that you will be hurting the buyers in this deal.

As far as the house you are buying, it's so easy to get out of any deal. Worst case, you walk away and lose your earnest money.

[scottiegrace]

On the house you are buying you just have to get your building inspector to come up with the smallest thing and you can walk away. With regards to the selling of your current home Steve hit the nail right on the head. You can try to make it extremely difficult. If you have something on paper it would be a lot easier to take action against the agent\brokerage.

[Bigtoe]

cortni414[/LEFT];253745]Our real estate agent calculated that we would net almost 60,000 from the sale of our house...this number in turn made us accept an offer on our house and reflected how much we were going to put down on the new house. Well after we signed the loan for the new house we realized she made a huge mistake and our net was only going to be 52,000...I contacted her broker and basically he said there was nothing they could do and we as sellers should have known what our net was going to be. My question is, is there any legal action we can take against the real estate agent/broker to make them pay for their mistake or are we just screwed? We basically have a signed contract to sell our house and a signed contract to buy a new house, so we have to sell/buy correct?

Apparently, you have not been paying attention to the news. You should be considering yourself lucky to be able to sell and walk away with a profit. Stop dwelling on this little issue. Do you go around in life believing everything that is put in front of you without checking on it yourself?

The bottom line is your responsibility and no one else's. If you kill this deal you will no doubt regret it when you try to sell your house to the next buyer.

[stevetrang]

Oh bigtoe, if only everyone heeded your advice. Not just real estate, but in all aspects of life. One can only dream.

[Waterfront Realtor]

The only option available to you go to police file a fraud charge against them at least of 2 to 3 lac $ and drag them to court because this is a cheating, If I was there in place of you I will make them pay for their mistake.

[Tim Shepard Destin]

I think you first have to figure out if you can live with the $52k net. If you can't, then try some of the things mentioned. However, if in the end, you want to get out of this house, I'd recommend:

1. Ask the agent for a full rebate of her commission (where legal). You might not get $8k, but anything is better than what you have.
2. Tell the developer you aren't going to be able to purchase the new house because your $8k short. Maybe he will knock off some from the purchase.

You might strike out on both efforts, but you might get close to whole as well.

Good Luck!

[Dionisia]

Well if the contract states that you should have 60,000 then you have a big chance to file it, if not then I'm sorry to say you can't get it, in real estate it is reall6y important for you to get more opinion from other realtors this can sometimes be very beneficial for you

[thataway61]

Here it is is called "ESTIMATED" net sheet. I always emphasize "ESTIMATED" net sheet and delve into it further.

In some States the net sheet is required and in others it is not. The closing costs you have could be larger than expected due to changes in loan programs or requirements of Fannie Mae (which have changed lots from day to day over the past year of financial awakening).

I never have felt all that comfortable when filling out net sheets because I always want to be so precise, down to the penny, which is impossible. I used to get the lenders to prepare the net sheets so that it would be as precise as possible. Many lenders will fudge the closing cost "ESTIMATES" a little high, so that the client / customer is not surprised at the closing table like you were. This way, there was seldom a need for more funds than expected at closing and many times the client /customer would have a happy surprise of costs being less than expected.

Again, it is a "Good Faith Estimate" and the past year or so has been very difficult for borrowers even knowing whether deals would close or be funded due to rapidly changing lending standards and requirements of the secondary mortgage markets.

I hate to hear that you had a surprise, but like Bigtoe said, count yourself fortunate in the present environment if you had a positive net!