Vendor wants to terminate- moral dilemma

Longish post and a post no one can answer but myself so apologies in advanced but would be nice to get others perspective........ So me and the partner have been working our butts off the past 5 years to get us into an acreage ppor. Including renoing 2 houses, sub divide and build a property just for the deposit and that's still only enough for the cheapest property in the area we want to move in to.

Now 3-4 weeks ago we had our offer accepted on a property and we were stoked. Subject to finance, subject to sale of our current ppor... Easy or so we thought. If you look at my last thread we went through ***** getting finance sorted on this but we got it sorted. We also have listed our house for sale and fielded heaps of attention, no offers set in stone just yet however.

Just last night we received a call from the vendors rea letting us know the vendor would like to terminate the contract, still have 3.5 weeks left of the subject to sale period. Legally he does not have a foot to stand on, its either we don't sell our house in time or we come to a mutual agreement to terminate.

Then we have it explained to us he wants to terminate as his partner is crook, very crook and where they were moving to was too remote for ease of treatment from the little we have been told (whether true or not who knows). If we were to terminate we would have to terminate the sale and cost on listing for our own house and we have wasted lots of our and everyone's time. From the way his rea has been telling us he is a "battler" and it sounds as though he may not have the funds to reimburse us for our costs.

My first thought is continue on as is,we have done 100% nothing wrong, and if we don't get a sale in time accept there is no chance of getting an extension and move on. But then it's going to be in the back of my mind how we may have stuffed them around.


What would you do? if this post actually makes sense, I know its written a bit poorly. This has been doing my head in

 

The legal answer is that you don't need to terminate.

You are questioning it because you feel a moral responsibility towards someone else's problems.

I think it's ok to carry through with the sale and it's ok to do what is best for you.

They entered into a contract for sale and many things took place as a result of their descision. Now they are asking you to consider their circumstances above your own.

Either continue the sale or ask for a compensation payout for the time and effort you put in.

 

Tough one !

Assuming there would be cheaper , non acreage, properties in the area you would think the seller would be better off completing the deal and downsizing locally? Probably get them closer to medical services and give them a financial buffer to help them through...

 

I am with @30yrAgent.

From where I sit (and we don't have all the facts), one would have thought the sellers would want to proceed with the sale, move to an area where there are good medical facilities for the seller who is crook, downsize to a property which is cheaper to buy and own, set aside the remainder as a cash buffer, focus on the crook partner, etc.

I live on acreage (so I know how much work is involved in maintenance) - this is what I would be doing if my partner got really crook.

 

Do what is right for you at this stage. Direct all communication via your solicitors.

 

Agree with others. ...do what is right for you.
Otherwise you will be kicking yourself in the 'gentle area' if you find out they lied and house is back on market at a higher price.

Moral responsibility only make sense when/if the transaction is at 'arm's length'.

 

It is probably not true, or overly exaggerated. They may have a cold - or they may have had an offer for $20k more.

What about all the costs you have incurred?

Tell the agent not to contact you any more and to get their lawyer to deal with your lawyer.

 

You have a subject to sale in there. What's the chances of you going unconditional?

 

Thanks all, pretty much my line of thinking. We shall proceed along the contract timelines as planned.

Pretty certain we will achieve what we need to, our agent is not worried in the least. Houses in the area move fast and im confident our pricing is on the mark

 

I'm as skeptical as @Terry_w - they've received a better (read unconditional) offer. Worst case scenario, you don't sell and have an exit clause, you are controlling the deal and may yet walk away.

As others have pointed out, they can be free of this property and get what they require.

 

If it is genuine (I.e. Doctor's letter as proof) you could offer an extended settlement to give them more time to organise things.

Imagine being told you had a brain tumour and trying to organise a new place. Most people would want to hunker down somewhere familiar - I know I would.

 

If you want to find out more, you could search facebook and try to see what you can find out.

I had a friend who was about to commence litigation against someone. Suddenly the claimed to have cancer, and be on death's door. My friend tracked him down to his work place, gave them a call and he was still at work that day. Doesn't mean he wasn't sick, but he possibly was not that ill.

 

They can rent after they sell to you.

 

The way I see it your choices are;

1. Go unconditional now - sell your property and settle.
2. Keep trying to sell you property but know you are unlikely to get an extension approved which then will require you to make a choice closer to your date.
3. Agree to cancel the contract and have them pay for all marketing expenses + other expenses (e.g. your solicitors fees, B&P reports?) - as why should you be worse off for their change?
4. Cancel the contract and walk away.

My choice is number 2 which if this was the dream house then becomes number 1 in time. If I have a moral issues then I would go with 3 however I wouldn't pick number 4.

 

I'd personally request to meet them in person to suss out if it's genuine or Not and if genuine I'd try to make something work, eg them renting back from you or something. For all we know they could be going through a really trying time, wouldn't do any harm to at least entertain the idea and if you can't make it qork at least you've tried

 

My g/friend was in similar situation, she was the vendor and decided she made a mistake did not want to sell, lawyers got involved and she had no choice but to reluctantly settle.

MTR

 

Bear in mind 3 x things:

1. Your house sale may not happen and then the whole deal is off anyway.
2. If the contract holds up (ie you sell your place) and the vendors still do not want to settle, then you cannot make them sell without large legal expense and a whole lot of time - possibly years.
3. If the partner vendor really is very ill, and they pass away during the settlement period, the contract will also collapse.

 

Propertyunity raises some good points.

What if they refuse to settle?
And what does your contract say about death of a party?

 

Some more interest insights cheers.

The partner is not an owner of the property under contract and name does not appear at all.

I have spoken to my conveyancer today and they said at current they are dealing with 3 deals vendors are trying to terminate. 1 the vendor is offering a resonable size sum of money to entice the buyers to cancel. They also mentioned that failure to settle would be the main aspect to be weary of. Even told me of an owner who refuse after court ruling and barricaded themself inside the house over the last christmas period.

 

I'm sceptical too.

I would have thought if you were very very crook, this would not be an all of a sudden thing. And the treatment would have been known about from the beginning.

I reckon they got a better offer....