Buying a house, have given earnest check that has not been cashed yet?

Question

I am in the process of buying a house.  It is a foreclosure and a realty company is representing Fannie Mae and has it listed.  "As Is" During the first contract the house inspection was put off once for a quality control check of the records.  I re-scheduled my inspector, then I paid $125.00 to have the water turned on (that was part of the deal as the house was winterized, and was to be re-winterized following inspection)

The house was scheduled to be inspected on the 14th of February.  Then at 3:30 p,m, on Friday the 13th I get a call that the water was turned on a quickly shut off due to a water leak that was caused by freezing weather because they winterized late (They needed to have legal access to the house before going in to winterize and there was freezing weather before they could do so)  At this point in order to proceed I had to cancel the contract as I had till 5 p.m. or I would stand the chance of loseing my earnest money.  I also had to call off my house inspector again. I went back to the house with my realtor that following Monday only to find out that it was a minor elbow on a basement pipe that had froze that was adjacent to an exterior wall, really no big deal.  On Tuesday I resubmitted my original offer and asked that it simply (the leak) be repaired and the I had to start the process all over.  In the maentime the listing agent knew I was re-submitting my offer due to a misunderstanding as to what the damage was as they gave me only an hour and a half to make a decision while I was at work and could not leave before 5 p.m. to go out and look at it.  I resubmitted my original offer, only to find that he relisted the house on MLS, lowered the price by $7,100 dollars and put flyers in the box reflecting such a price the very same day he got my resubmitted offer, with the same MLS listing number.  They still have my earnest money check and I have been told my offer was sent to Fannie Mae again and is in process.  I expected an answer by Friday, but was told it would maybe come Monday.  My wife and I really want this house and are all approved and ready to still close on the 12th of March as was the original date to close and the listing agent says that when we pulled out it put him in a bad situation, I say it has been them doing so.
What are the thoughts out there?

acermill · Accepted Answer

The listing agent did nothing wrong.  He didn't lower the price of the property.  Fannie Mae did that.  As well, he is contracted with Fannie to sell the house.  Fannie wants that property in the MLS unless it's sold.  You cancelled your offer to protect your earnest money, so the property went back on the market, as it should.

Understand that sales of real estate are not considered sales, based upon your offer.  The property isn't considered sold until money has changed hands and title is transferred.

I'm not sure how this all put the LA in any sort of bad position, unless he got heat from the folks at Fannie over your withdrawal.  Regardless, it appears that you are back on track, awaiting an acceptance.  I really do not see an issue.

bailie28 · Answer

the listing agent is an *** obviously, the earnest money more than likely will not be cashed until the day you close, that is what happened with ours, sometimes the paperwork once it hits the realtors is the longest part if you have already got your preapproval with the mortgage company just sit tight and try not to worry, if this deal falls through and they have been known to even under the best of situations, there are other houses out there and  look at it this way for some reason it wasnt meant to be...good luck...

teran_realtor · Answer

What you describe is just bad luck.  And if they get a better offer, they will accept the better offer.  Is the new list price below or above what your offer is?

This kind of thing does happen (bad luck).  And there is nothing you can do about it.  The listing agent should understand why you withdrew to begin with and should not hold that against you - you have your own Realtor as well, don't you?

rosalind · Answer

Personal check should be fine unless they request a bank check. The seller's agent will give you clear instruction of how to deposit the earnest money once your offer being accepted by the seller.

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Buying a house, have given earnest check that has not been cashed yet?

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