Spoke with a seller about an active listing he had. Was very nice, gave me lots of info. But the whole time he was talking about how he wasn’t sure if he was going to sell it/was thinking about taking it off the market. It’s a good deal and I’d be happy to pay his listed asking price. Wondering if it’s worth it for me to make an offer/get it under contract if he’s on the fence about keeping it. How common is it for a seller to get it under contract and then pull out? Can they do that?
I suggest you ask him why he doesn’t want to sell it and deal with those objections. List them on the forum and ask for advice on how to overcome them.
Once the seller signs the contract they are ‘legally’ bound to follow through. However, it may not be worth the effort to enforce the contract if they change their mind. Sometimes the mom and pop just wants to test the waters to see if there is demand for their property. Also, reality can set in and they realize they are losing a big chunk of their income that they’ve relied on for many years.
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This isn’t a mom and pop, sounds more like a mid level park owner. He said he originally put it on the market to roll the profit into a new park but not longer needs to since he has enough capital and this park is a easy money maker. I obviously don’t blame him. Hoping I could appeal to the idea that he can take that capital and improve his new park or even find another one.
Glad to know about having to follow through, that’s what I thought but wanted to confirm.
Sellers can be tire kickers too. They will maybe sell if the price feels really good for them, but sometimes they put it out there just to see what people offer. This person sounds like one of those, and they are not typically motivated because they don’t even know what they want.
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that’s what I’m feeling. Sounds like all I can do is make him an offer and send him a purchase contract. I was concerned that if he did sign the contract he would still be able to back out but it sounds like that isn’t the case.
Can’t hurt to make an offer, but sounds like he is fishing for a nice price. You will only lose your time to do this, so it’s your call.
If you both sign the contract, then you are both bound per the terms and conditions set forth within. If the seller backs out, you have legal recourse to have the seller pay for your damages including requiring the seller to sell the park to you (“specific performance”).
I know of a buyer who put an offer on a condo in the Washington DC metro when prices were skyrocketing and 3 offers over asking price came in within hours of listing. The buyer and seller entered a written contract, then another buyer agreed to pay more. Seller sent a letter saying she was terminating the contract to the original buyer. The original buyer had his lawyer serve legal documents demanding “specific performance.” After the seller’s lawyer told her that cost of litigation is very high, the seller decided to sell to the original buyer as agreed in the first place.
In a MHP deal, the ramifications are higher. Due diligence is costly and time consuming, and the dollar amounts are larger. If I spent that kind of time and money and the seller reneged, I would be speaking to my attorney right away.
Agreed, Buyer should always be entitled to “specific performance” per the terms of the contract or there really isn’t any enforceable agreement to sell.
However, Seller should not be entitled to “specific performance”. Instead, Seller’s recourse if Buyer balks should be limited to the earnest money.
Typically this is how it’s done.
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yes, my concern exactly about the seller reneging on the deal.
thanks everyone for the feedback! seller has asked to wait until later this year to avoid some capital gains tax. Going to attempt to get him in a deal with 90 day due diligence to carry him through to that threshold.