If I signed a contact to sell my house but now don’t ant to sell, what can I do?
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If I signed a contact to sell my house but now don’t ant to sell, what can I do?
I signed a contact to sell my house. Now, after 24 hours, I’ve changed my mind not to sell. It hasn’t been listed and no pictures have been taken. I called and spoke with the realtor and he said that he would get back to me after the weekend. I also sent an email explanation why I was backing out to sell my house.
Asked on July 19, 2019 under Real Estate Law, South Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
By a contract to sell your house, do you mean a contract with a realtor to sell it for you? If so, the easiest thing to do is simply to not accept any offers, which is your perogative, if the realtor insists on bringing them to you. A seller is never required to accept an offer. You may have to pay the realtor's expenses (e.g. marketing or materials) as set out in the contract, since you can't simply unilaterally void the contract if the realtor refuses to agree to terminate, but you can still refuse to sell.
If you mean a contract with a buyer, you can only get out of it if 1) there is some clause or provision in it allowing you to terminate it, and you properly exercise your rights under that provision; or if 2) the buyer breaches (violates) the contract in some material (important) way, such as by not paying a deposit or other sum when he or she should. Otherwise, you are obligated to (locked into) the contract and must sell.
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