Thursday July 17th - Stopping a Sale Question: We're in the military. We got orders to go overseas, we put our home up for sale, got a buyer and then our orders were changed. The broker is telling us we must sell our home by the contract date and is making us feel like we will be sued for her commission and whatever the buyer sues for if we don't not sell. We let the broker know the minute the problem came up. What should we do? Answer: Imagine that you are the buyer. You may well of given up a rental or placed a home for sale because you believed that you would have a replacement property by a given date. In fact, you could have sold your current residence. The buyer has a very reasonable stake in this matter. From your perspective as a seller you could have made both the listing and the acceptance of the purchase offer contingent on the receipt of final orders to go overseas. Such a contingency, however, would have made your home less attractive to would-be purchasers. Did your broker discuss the pros and cons of such a contingency with you? It would be best in this situation to see what the buyer really wants and needs. If the transaction cannot close, perhaps the listing agreement can be untangled by offering to pay the broker's actual marketing costs or a token fee. No doubt as a matter of good public relations the broker would like to settle this matter in a way that makes sense for everyone. For additional help, contact your state real estate commission or speak with a JAG officer on your base.

Published: July 17, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.