What does your contract say as regards earnest money and timely closing?

Why is your agent not talking to the buyer's agent? We're in the process of buying a home, and my agent has become quite close--lol--to the seller's agent. They're on the phone several times a week. When there's a question, they either dig out the answer, or--and this has definitely been the case on a few occasions--the agent will contact his client to make a call or two. I've been there, done that as far as having the seller have a question that was relayed to me via her agent, my agent--so I could call the bank and ask. We've done the same thing in the opposite direction.

I'm sorry to say, sounds as if your agent is either inexperienced, or just not interested in doing her job. She's being paid fairly well to represent your interests in this sale, and she needs to step up and do her job. I think SHE'S the one you need to get on. Maybe she just doesn't know what she needs to do? Perhaps if you call her and give her a specific task--call the other agent, and get a definite settlement date--she'd be able to follow through? Although, she's right--she can't call the lender. Due to the strict privacy laws, MY agent can't even call MY bank (my lender) to ask the simplest question. They won't speak to anyone but the client themselves.

Otherwise, I think you may need to sit down with your lawyer and go over the contract and see what your options are--you may have to do a little nudging here, to get the sale through.

A question--one would think the buyers would be anxious to settle. Is there anything else going on? Do you think THEY may be the cause of the heel-dragging because they may have changed their minds? or have been unable to sell their previous home? I know, as a buyer, I'm just itching to get into my new home. The next 2 weeks can't go fast enough for me. So I think there's got to be something behind all this. Sounds like the buyers are grasping at straws, looking for a way out of the contract, and their agent is helping by asking for all these further certifications, and not scheduling settlement.

Hope it all works out, but you may want to consider a graceful way out--maybe offer that you'll let them off the hook, if they allow you to keep enough of the deposit to cover the months the house was off the market?

Good luck

I think maybe there is a language barrier here. I hadn't realized that the realtors are not allowed to talk to the lender themselves. We are dealing with non-english speaking buyers, who are working with a loan officer who is bi-lingual but apparently very inexperienced. (He's working on it specifically because he speaks their language, from my understanding.)

I guess if this is the case, then the realtors can only find out what the buyer is able to tell them, which might not be much since he is likely unfamiliar with what to expect or what questions to ask. I don't think the buyer wants out... he's got a lot of money invested. He paid for the survey and for the water and sewage inspections. (Thankfully!)

So in a crazy situation like this, the realtor could not step in and contact the lender for information? It seems strange that they can't talk to the lender, when the lender is the one holding things up.

I agree with azzalea, something is going on and also wonder how much experience your agent has. I kind of remember your post but not all of the details.

At this point, contacting a real estate attorney if you don't already have one is a really good idea, although it does not sound like you have time.

When we were selling, I know that my agent & the buyer were directly talking, so much that I started feeling he was looking after their best interests. If it was me, I think I would be contacting their agent if your agent isn't going to do it. I'd put it in writing to your agent, maybe talk to their broker?

You must be so stressed. We had a 2 month closing and not having a closing date until 1 week before closing was the pits, but that's how it's done here from what my agent said. We had a date set, but nothing in writing from the lender saying it was set up.

Well, of course, the agent can talk to the lender--but the lender, by law, can't talk to them. You know how all these ridiculous privacy things are today.

I still don't see that a language barrier would be the cause of the heel-dragging you're describing. Might make it a little more complicated to get to the bottom of things, of course. Here's a question--do you have a friend who speaks their language? Is there any chance you could convince your agent to set up a conference call (with your bi-lingual friend monitoring/helping) with the other agent and buyers? And maybe get some of the tough questions answered?

From your further info, though, I think it's definitely time to hire a good real estate lawyer. Make sure it's his/her specialty, not a sideline for him--sounds like you're to the point were you need expert representation.

Again, good luck to you. You've got to be so frustrated.

I went through something like that too. I had my home in Enfield,CT (FSBO) sold and we were to close on 5/27. Because we are looking to relocate out of state hubby and I gave notice at work, gave away most of our furnishing (thought we would only pack personals and start fresh at our new home) and then the closing never happened. My home was off the market for over 2 months because of this so I lost valuable marketing time. It is now on the market as FSBO and hope to sell soon since now I am out of work (looking for temp jobs) and live in a pretty vacant house. If you know someone looking in the area please have them contact me at budrusty@aol.com. I would look at your contract, they may have to pay you for time loss and you may be able to place it back on the market. I would not use the same agent though

Thank you all so much for this help, even though it is not what I wanted to hear! Just FYI, our property is a mobile home on acreage, and is under contract for only $45,000. Our REA fees are about $4000 flat, which is what we had to pay to get her to agree to sell a mobile home, which no one here wants to do due to the difficulty. So, I don't really think we are her top priority during selling season, even though to us her fees are costing quite a lot of money. (3% is going to the buyer's agent, of course.) Anyway, I say all that to let you know that though this is a big deal for us, it isn't a whole lot of money compared to most other real estate. :-(

The earnest money is $500, which I am assuming we would get to keep after all of this, but I feel like not extending the contract would just be making the buyers suffer. The lender doesn't care if the buyer loses their earnest money, do they? Or if they lose money on a survey and water tests, etc?

Okay, I am woefully ignorant on what exactly a real estate lawyer could do for us. Can a lawyer help move things along with the lender, or would he just be to secure the earnest money and get us out of the contract? (On property of this value, it may not be worth hiring one?) What are your thoughts on this?

Can a lender just NEVER go to closing, and leave things hanging indefinitely? Could our REA pressure the bank into making a definite decision, or are we totally at their mercy and helpless to do anything about their stalling?

We are going thru a similar situation, tho reversed. We are buying a bank owned home, represented by a real estate. We are getting a mortgage thru the same bank that owns the house, at their request. They wanted to close a month ago, but the loan agent hasn't gotten us the mortgage yet, which will be FHA. (they told us it would be no problem). Well, we keep getting questions, from the loan people, some that are redundant, some that are ridiculous, (like will the roof be good for 10 yrs? how should I know, the house is being sold as is,and the roof is 8 yrs old)we've had 2 extensions, and now they want to charge us each day we don't close. My husband told them , they are holding up the whole thing, we've been ready for weeks. So much for preapproval.

Hey ctracey56, stop advertising your fsbo on every frickin' thread on this list. It's annoying.

I bet you cut in line, too, because you think somehow you're special.

Go through traditional channels for your fsbo, don't muck up the boards.

To the OP, I would also see if I can find an RE attorney that would do some work pro bono for you or barter work, or a flat fee if you explain your problem and the finances involved...

NYshorty--you probably need to get a certification for the roof. That document should satisfy your lender on that issue. We weren't that concerned--when you buy an older home, you are buying it 'as is' and we expect to have a few things we need to fix over the years. But our realtor has been super thorough. A roof certification was one of the things he asked for on our behalf. In all honesty, the EPA issue of the oil tank that had been removed some years ago (was it done properly, was there any contamination?) was the only issue we were truly concerned about.

I'm a little curious about the lenders on this thread. We went through our bank (where I've been banking since I was a kid, where we had our first mortgage). It was such an easy, non-confrontational process. We went in one evening when we were still looking at the house, got a pre-qual letter (approved by the vice president himself. It's a small bank, only 2 branches). When our offer had been accepted, and I went back to the bank, and started the mortgage process, I asked if there was any chance it wouldn't go through. The mortgage gal looked at me as if I had 2 heads and said, "Of course not, you've been pre-qualified, you've got the mortgage." And true to that statement, everything has gone very smoothely. We settle in 2 weeks, and there's been no glitches along the way.

As to the real estate attorney. You actually bring up a good point. If your earnest money is only $500, you'd probably pay more than that to retain a lawyer. Still, a good lawyer will generally give you a first consultation for free--and they often will give you good suggestions, even if you don't decide to hire them. So perhaps, if you sit down with one, you'd still get some tips on where to go from here--even if you handle things yourself.