Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
Real estate sale agreement
I entered into a residential sales contract as a buyer. In the listing, the house had approximately 2673 sq ft excluding basement and garage. Now in the appraisal, it was discovered that the house has only 2569 sq ft.
The contract is subject to home inspection and appraisal report. Home inspection does not verify the measurements. The appraisal values the property at the sale agreement price even though the sq ft is less by 104 sq ft.
Can I terminate the agreement stating that the house had l04 sq feet less than what was in the listing?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Real estate sale agreement
Any answer must depend on the exact wording of the contract. However, my answer is "probably not".
Re: Real estate sale agreement
Possibly, but this is a tough one. You saw the house, liked the house and in all honesty probably did not say oh this house is perfect it has 2673 feet instead of 2569 feet. In other words visually you liked the house, its layout and the size fo the rooms etc. You need to look at the contract in detail. Also, you would probably have to be able to prove that you relied on the representation of that extra 103 square feet in making your decision to enter into the contract. This is a difficult one to win. Good luck.