Hi all, I am a single mum of 2 daughters. 10 & 13. Recently my exhusband had offered to buy me out of the family home. We had been trying to sell for over a year. We agreed on a figure and he applied to the bank and was pre approved. I then found a little house to buy for myself and my daughters with the payout money. I put a contract on this house and my ex was only waiting to come home from working away to sign his loan documents. In the mean time the contract on the house I was buying went unconditional. After I had checked with my ex to make sure there was nothing stopping him paying me out. Big mistake. Huge! When he came home he saw that the interest on his loan was massive and he couldn’t afford the repayments. Then he asked a broker to find a different lending institution with a better rate, but it wasn’t to be. So I was left in breach of contract. Stupid? Maybe? Inexperienced? Absolutely! It all happened a few days before my eldest daughter was to go in for surgery. She has a heart valve condition. The stress was huge. I just wanted the whole breach of contract sorted before my daughters hospital visit. I offered to pay the sellers Conveyance Solicitor fees and to forfeit my bond of $1000. Also to forfeit an extra $1000 that I paid the sellers for a contract extension. It was supposedly to cover “lost rent”. Their Real Estate Agent had told me that they had someone ready to move into the property, if I didn’t buy it. As a side note, the sellers had arranged to move out of the property before I had met them and did so. While it was under contract to me. The sellers came back to me with a firm “no”. As they were being charged to full commission from their RE Agent of just over $10,000. This seamed a lot on a property selling for $330,000. However, as my main concern was my daughters’ health. Also because I am pretty straight. ie: don’t do anything dodgey or illegal. I paid just over $12,000 to get out of the contract. By the grace of God and thanks to the Doctors and staff at The Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, my daughter is doing very well. Now I have time to follow up on this and find out if I am entitled to some money back. I found out that the sellers and their RE actually went 50/50 in the commission and tried to tell me it was for bond / moving costs etc for the property they had rented. This is just not true. As I previously stated, the sellers had arranged to move into a rental, before they even met me. In my opinion, it alludes to collusion. I have written to the head RE office and put forward my plight, twice. They have said it’s a legal issue and that there is nothing they can do to help me. I was also told by the agent dealing with the sale that it was out of her hands. That it was head office’s policy that all commissions be paid on a breached contract. This too, I found out is not true. The principal of the Agency involved has backtracked and said that by Head Office the Agent actually meant the office that she works at. This too is difficult this believe as any reasonable person would think that head office would be a state or national primary office. I have documents to back up this story. Including an invoice and text messages. As I wrote in one email to the RE head office. I believe the agent /agency should be compensated for the work they did and possibly advertising. I asked for an 85% refund of the commission that I paid. It would mean that the sellers had NO outstanding legal bill and kept the $2000. The RE agent/agent would end up with around $1600. As I understand it, the intent of the law is to put people/companies back into the financial position that they were in before the contract was entered into. In so much as that contract directly affected them. I had to borrow money from my daughters trust accounts to pay this outstanding debt. I am struggling financially, As a lot of families are. The approx $8,500 refund would be better spent, in my opinion, on a house for my kids. I am greatful to anyone taking the time to read this and would value opinions and feedback. Thank you
I know someone who bid at auction and it cost them $250K....when they couldnt settle. The REA is right. It is a legal issue between you and the vendor. The REA issue is between the vendor and the agent and not a matter for you to even consider if its right, wrong or otherwise. What did your solicitor say ?
You dont have much of a legal leg to stand on, since you broke the contract. In some ways you got out easy. They could have come after you for the full deposit and extra costs of reselling. Didnt you have a finance clause in the contract? Qld contracts tend to favour the buyer. Probably not what you want to hear, but your personal circumstances arent relevant.
Now I have time to follow up on this and find out if I am entitled to some money back. I found out that the sellers and their RE actually went 50/50 in the commission and tried to tell me it was for bond .. I hope that some of the Legal people that read this may offer better advice..But from a non-legal person who has experienced contracts go belly up many times ,I think your very lucky that it worked out the way it did.. And maybe look at it this in a simple simple way,the contract is binding on the principal and you -no in-between's the selling agent job is to sell the property the principal has total control..
I couldn't get passed the first few loans. sounds like you entered a contract but your exspouse wouldnt sign loan documents ? Why would he be borrowing for your property? serviceability i guess, but a lender would only agree to this if you were spouses. if you can't complete the purchase you will lose 10% and possibly be sued for more.
"Hi all, I am a single mum of 2 daughters. 10 & 13. Recently my ex-husband had offered to buy me out of the family home. We had been trying to sell for over a year. We agreed on a figure and he applied to the bank and was pre-approved. I then found a little house to buy for myself and my daughters with the payout money. I put a contract on this house and my ex was only waiting to come home from working away to sign his loan documents. In the mean time the contract on the house I was buying went unconditional. After I had checked with my ex to make sure there was nothing stopping him paying me out. Big mistake. Huge! When he came home he saw that the interest on his loan was massive and he couldn’t afford the repayments. Then he asked a broker to find a different lending institution with a better rate, but it wasn’t to be. So I was left in breach of contract. Stupid? Maybe? Inexperienced? Absolutely! It all happened a few days before my eldest daughter was to go in for surgery. She has a heart valve condition. The stress was huge. I just wanted the whole breach of contract sorted before my daughters hospital visit. I offered to pay the sellers Conveyance Solicitor fees and to forfeit my bond of $1000. Also to forfeit an extra $1000 that I paid the sellers for a contract extension. It was supposedly to cover “lost rent”. Their Real Estate Agent had told me that they had someone ready to move into the property, if I didn’t buy it. As a side note, the sellers had arranged to move out of the property before I had met them and did so. While it was under contract to me. The sellers came back to me with a firm “no”. As they were being charged to full commission from their RE Agent of just over $10,000. This seamed a lot on a property selling for $330,000. However, as my main concern was my daughters’ health. Also because I am pretty straight. ie: don’t do anything dodgey or illegal. I paid just over $12,000 to get out of the contract. By the grace of God and thanks to the Doctors and staff at The Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, my daughter is doing very well. Now I have time to follow up on this and find out if I am entitled to some money back. I found out that the sellers and their RE actually went 50/50 in the commission and tried to tell me it was for bond / moving costs etc for the property they had rented. This is just not true. As I previously stated, the sellers had arranged to move into a rental, before they even met me. In my opinion, it alludes to collusion. I have written to the head RE office and put forward my plight, twice. They have said it’s a legal issue and that there is nothing they can do to help me. I was also told by the agent dealing with the sale that it was out of her hands. That it was head office’s policy that all commissions be paid on a breached contract. This too, I found out is not true. The principal of the Agency involved has backtracked and said that by Head Office the Agent actually meant the office that she works at. This too is difficult this believe as any reasonable person would think that head office would be a state or national primary office. I have documents to back up this story. Including an invoice and text messages. As I wrote in one email to the RE head office. I believe the agent /agency should be compensated for the work they did and possibly advertising. I asked for an 85% refund of the commission that I paid. It would mean that the sellers had NO outstanding legal bill and kept the $2000. The RE agent/agent would end up with around $1600. As I understand it, the intent of the law is to put people/companies back into the financial position that they were in before the contract was entered into. In so much as that contract directly affected them. I had to borrow money from my daughters trust accounts to pay this outstanding debt. I am struggling financially, As a lot of families are. The approx $8,500 refund would be better spent, in my opinion, on a house for my kids. I am greatful to anyone taking the time to read this and would value opinions and feedback. Thank you" There. That's a bit better.
Op to sell ppor to exspouse (jointly owned probably) Op signed contract for house2 for 330k. Ex wouldnt sign loan to buy out op. No ppor sale, no money to buy house2. op breached contract on house2. Op got out of house2 contract after paying 12k to seller, mainly agents fees and legals. Op thinks she should only pay 3.5k, being the seller’s legal fees and sundries.
I think it's a very expensive lesson in not acting in haste. It does not sound like there was any need to either if you currently have a roof over your head. With a child recovering from surgery, buying a new house need not be an urgency. Next time, make sure your ex-husband's loan is approved before acting. I would consider renting initially so you have time to make the right decision buying.
If he is buying from you I think you should wait until the sale has settled and you have the funds in your account. Otherwise he could pull out again.
On what basis are you asking for a refund of a payment to settle the matter? You can ask but they have no reason to refund money you paid.
At first, I thought it was poor form on your ex husband”s part to offer to buy you out when surely he knew he couldn’t afford the interest. But then, I realised see that this series of events was probably really rushed (i.e. your offer on the new house / him offering to purchase the old one to help you out) and he didn’t have enough time to investigate properly. If that’s not the case and he stuffed you around, perhaps he could give you a few thousand in compensation? Why do you think it’s been so hard to sell your house - a year seems unusual.
Hi @Deee While the circumstances you found yourself in with your daughter are very unfortunate indeed, they don't equate to an exemption from what the rules in real estate contract law dictate. You can ask if a vendor will kindly grant the refund of some or all of your deposit. Every now and then a good samaritan might say yes. But in most cases they'll say no. As @Terry_w mentioned, you could also have been sued and are fortunate this did not occur.
There are other ways the op could have protected herself. Eg make the contract conditional on successful sale of her half to her ex spouse. More generally, dont make big financial decisions when you have personal issues to deal with.
I see single mum of two kids I see issues with ex-partner I see medical issues with kids I see corrupt real estate agents I don't see the part about being an adult and taking responsibility?
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