Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
verbal agreement on home purchase
i have been living in a home for 2 years now renting.. the time came when the owner wanted to sell. alot of time was passing so i decided to call the owner and make an offer. i offered him a certain price and he said he accepted that price.. he then told me to call the lawyer that was handling the property. i did so... i told the lawyer that the owner had accepted the offer and he said that it was great and he took all my information and said he would begin drawing up a purchase and sale agreement. i then called the owner back and told him that and he said great and told me that as soon as he got it he would sign it and send it and he said i should have it in a week. during that time i secured a pre approval on a loan for the price we agreed on... then the owner turns around and ups the price $50,000. is there anything that i can do???
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: verbal agreement on home purchase
Not really. You should have made an Offer to Purchase in writing and had him sign it.
All you can do is tell the owner that he your offer was for X and that is what you got approved for, if he wants to sell for that fine if not, tell him to keep looking for a buyer.
If he has another buyer you will have to move when your lease is up.
I suggest you get an attorney to help you with this.
Re: verbal agreement on home purchase
When it comes to buying and sellign property, oral agreements aren't even worth the paper they were not written on. By law... only written agreements for the sale of property are enforceable.
Re: verbal agreement on home purchase
Usually, only written agreements are binding where real estate is involved.
However, there are circumstances, such as acting to your detriment on the oral agreement, that may make it binding.
Consider retaining an attorney to explore whether the circumstances in your case qualify.
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