Real Estate

Buyer asking to extend closing

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  • Jul 5th, 2023 9:29 pm
Jr. Member
Dec 31, 2015
154 posts
44 upvotes

Buyer asking to extend closing

The buyer of my property is asking to extend the closing date by 3 days. They are saying the underwriter is asking for an appraisal.
The house was sold in mid March with a closing date of June 1.
This all seems very strange just a couple days before closing.
There were no conditions on the agreement of purchase and sale.
My lawyer has been notified but of course it’s late Friday afternoon.
Any info would help.
Thanks
Last edited by ontariobrent on May 28th, 2021 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
29 replies
Deal Guru
May 1, 2012
10538 posts
11427 upvotes
Toronto
Talk to your lawyer and your agent. There's not much here that anyone can add to this.
Banned
Jan 3, 2021
151 posts
152 upvotes
ontariobrent wrote: The buyer of my property is asking to extend the closing date by 3 days. They are saying the underwriter is asking for an appraisal.
The house was sold in mid March with a closing date of June 2.
This all seems very strange just a couple days before closing.
There were no conditions on the agreement of purchase and sale.
My lawyer has been notified but of course it’s late Friday afternoon.
Any info would help.
Thanks
That's a bit last minute for an appraisal this late in the game.

But, circumstances could have changed for the buyer.. E.g. They went to another lender for a better rate, changed their down-payment structure, etc.

For example, maybe they intended to buy with 50% down., 50% mortgage... Well, most banks could likely "auto-appraise" this without sending someone... But lets say the buyer said, rates are good, I'd rather go 20% down payment instead.. Well changing that ratio could trigger a full appraisal of the property.

But doesn't seem like you have a choice. That being said, I would clarify if they need 3 days, or more than that? might as well just go 5 business days so you don't have to change again...
Deal Guru
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Mar 23, 2008
13006 posts
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Edmonton
You should also consider any extra costs you might incur because of this. Extra legal fees to muck around with documents, interest, moving/storage expenses, etc. They should be covering all that for you as part of you cutting them some slack.

C
Jr. Member
Dec 31, 2015
154 posts
44 upvotes
CNeufeld wrote: You should also consider any extra costs you might incur because of this. Extra legal fees to muck around with documents, interest, moving/storage expenses, etc. They should be covering all that for you as part of you cutting them some slack.

C
Thanks for the reply. I guess the part that bothers me the most is it’s so late notice.
Insurance and all utility companies now need to be notified of the change.
It shows that signed legal documents with closing dates really mean nothing if the buyer wants the date moved.
I will be expecting my lawyer to have extra fees because of this.
Penalty Box
Mar 27, 2004
10493 posts
9009 upvotes
Toronto
happened to a property I sold for my client. buyer had some mortgage issues and delayed closing by 5 days. anyway best course of action is as for a delay fee .additional lawyer fees and any mortgage interest. possibly ask for additional deposit as well.
Full-time Realtor
Newbie
Mar 19, 2021
77 posts
61 upvotes
I got my keys on Wednesday. I faced something similar , though my closing happened on time. I had a 3 month closing. I changed my lender 15 days before closing (won’t do that again ). So the new lender asked for a) status with latest date b) asked us to change our lawyer as mine had represented another client against them.

All this a week before closing date with the long weekend coming up. I was shitting bricks as I was sure closing won’t happen on time and I would face some penalties if the seller does not agree to extension last minute. Anywho, things worked out for me.

As someone mentioned, it can be a genuine case like mine and hoping nothing more to it. Hope your closing happens on time , all the best !
Deal Fanatic
Jan 15, 2017
5749 posts
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Ottawa
Original closing date is June 2nd which is a Wednesday. An extra 3 days puts the closing on a Saturday. Not going to happen. You should nail down the actual date.
Jr. Member
Dec 31, 2015
154 posts
44 upvotes
skeet50 wrote: Original closing date is June 2nd which is a Wednesday. An extra 3 days puts the closing on a Saturday. Not going to happen. You should nail down the actual date.
Sorry it should’ve said original closing date of June 1.
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Jan 2, 2012
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pfcresu wrote: But doesn't seem like you have a choice. That being said, I would clarify if they need 3 days, or more than that? might as well just go 5 business days so you don't have to change again...
Of course he has a choice. He could simply refuse the extension, and demand the buyers finalize the deal according to the contract. If they are unable to, the buyers would be in breach of the contract and the OP would be entitled to the full deposit amount plus potential additional damages (though may take a trip to court to get it). They would then need to re-list the home. If prices have gone up in past few months, this could actually be advantageous for them.

Or if they don't want this hassle, then they should simply agree to the extension but only under condition the seller pays 100% of all fees/costs/expenses the delay will cause to OP.
Banned
Jan 3, 2021
151 posts
152 upvotes
rob444 wrote: Of course he has a choice. He could simply refuse the extension, and demand the buyers finalize the deal according to the contract. If they are unable to, the buyers would be in breach of the contract and the OP would be entitled to the full deposit amount plus potential additional damages (though may take a trip to court to get it). They would then need to re-list the home. If prices have gone up in past few months, this could actually be advantageous for them.

Or if they don't want this hassle, then they should simply agree to the extension but only under condition the seller pays 100% of all fees/costs/expenses the delay will cause to OP.
lol, yeah, good luck with all that.

you don't just get to keep the deposit and walk away from the deal, cause buyer asked to move the close by 3 days. Damages for the additional 3 days, sure... if you want to take it that far/need to ( e.g. bridge loan fees/legal fees/etc)
Last edited by pfcresu on May 29th, 2021 11:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Banned
Jan 3, 2021
151 posts
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skeet50 wrote: Original closing date is June 2nd which is a Wednesday. An extra 3 days puts the closing on a Saturday. Not going to happen. You should nail down the actual date.
extra 3 days means business days. you can't close on a weekend/holiday.
Deal Addict
Jun 7, 2017
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pfcresu wrote: lol, yeah, good luck with all that.

you don't just get to keep the deposit and walk away from the deal, cause buyer asked to move the close by 3 days. Damages for the additional 3 days, sure... if you want to take it that far/need to ( e.g. bridge loan fees/legal fees/etc)
Lol, you new here? Seller can simply refuse to extend or not reply. Watch what happens if buyer fails to close.
Banned
Jan 3, 2021
151 posts
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Furcorn wrote: Lol, you new here? Seller can simply refuse to extend or not reply. Watch what happens if buyer fails to close.
yeah and were you're not planning to sell your house?

you can't then sue for additional damages unless those damages exist. u walking away from a deal taht coul dhappen, but 3 days later doesn't entitle you to more damages if you can't sell your place.

hence my original post.. you don't really have a choice... unless you want to make your own life intentionally difficult.

'you don't really have a choice' ;)
Deal Addict
Jan 13, 2014
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pfcresu wrote: yeah and were you're not planning to sell your house?

you can't then sue for additional damages unless those damages exist. u walking away from a deal taht coul dhappen, but 3 days later doesn't entitle you to more damages if you can't sell your place.

hence my original post.. you don't really have a choice... unless you want to make your own life intentionally difficult.

'you don't really have a choice' ;)
Are you lawyer or a real estate professional? I hope not. The seller can refuse and if the buyer doesn't close, the seller can sue for damages and keep deposit. There is no ifs or buts here.
Sr. Member
Dec 23, 2012
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RICHMOND HILL
masarwar wrote: Are you lawyer or a real estate professional? I hope not. The seller can refuse and if the buyer doesn't close, the seller can sue for damages and keep deposit. There is no ifs or buts here.
the seller can only keep the deposit or part of it if damages are proven in court, or the (former) buyer agrees. you don't just automatically get the full deposit amount.

if the buyer is actually going to close in 3 days (and can prove it, e.g. with correspondence with the lender), then the seller would be insane to drop the deal because of it.
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Nov 30, 2005
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Seller can always refuse the extension but why? Seems like a huge headache if seller really intend to sell their property. And no, seller can't just keep the deposit. Lol it's not that simple. Like mentioned already, you must prove real damages.
Banned
Jan 3, 2021
151 posts
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masarwar wrote: Are you lawyer or a real estate professional? I hope not. The seller can refuse and if the buyer doesn't close, the seller can sue for damages and keep deposit. There is no ifs or buts here.
Are you a real estate professional?

If the buyer asks to change date via their REALTOR, and the SELLER doesn't want to pick up the phone and ignores them..... All that will happen is that the buyer will talk to their Real Estate Lawyer and they will just send notification to the Sellers lawyer that the closing date has moved.

If the Seller REFUSES the new date, or ACCEPTS the new date (with conditions), THEN there could be damages. But, the damages would only be based on the damages caused by those 3 days.

The seller would not be entitled to additional damages.

Could the seller keep the deposit and walk away from the deal? Maybe.
However, this will get taken to court. While the buyer is technically in 'breach' as they couldn't close, a REASONABLE judge would see clearly that they made best attempt to close 3 days later.
When the judge asks the Seller "if you wanted to sell your house, why didn't you accept 3 days later", the seller is going to say what exactly?
Seller is going to say "well he was in breach of contract, thats why"..
And judge is going to LOL in your face and say, you didn't want to give someone during covid a 3 day extension????
good luck on that coin flip... i mean, you might be able to score the deposit.... maybe..maybe not.. it will literally come down to the judge. Because the BUYER COULD CLOSE, just on a different date.


Additional Damages? no. (nothing above the damages caused based on those 3 days)
If you decide to CANCEL the deal cause the buyer missed the date, then you can't sue for damages for a deal not happening. You were offered a REASONABLE adjustment. You didn't want to accept it... You can't then sue the buyer for re-listing your place (fees) or any additional losses e.g. selling your home for less...

The only damages would be something like: additional interest/bridge loan fees, lawyer fees for having to move dates if you had another deal closing..(this will all depend on the domino effect it causes, which could be big.. so again this will be deal specific).

Lastly, you all are forgetting ONE crucial thing.... We are in a PANDEMIC. There are delays at banks, lawyers, etc, because of covid. Don't think for a moment that a judge isn't going to look at all the evidence.

You're not wrong, but you're not going to score a $100k deposit, for a closing date being moved by 3 days... Unless you actually have $100k of damages from those 3 days.
Are there any cases of this happening?? I haven't found anyway.

The only case laws I find are ones where the buyer defaults. Can't get financing at all and asks to walk from the deal.

If it was so easy to just lose your deposit and a deal cause you moved closing date by 3 days, there would be a lot of cases of this happening.

Moving closing dates happens ALL the time.
Last edited by pfcresu on May 30th, 2021 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2007
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ontariobrent wrote: The buyer of my property is asking to extend the closing date by 3 days. They are saying the underwriter is asking for an appraisal.
The house was sold in mid March with a closing date of June 1.
This all seems very strange just a couple days before closing.
There were no conditions on the agreement of purchase and sale.
My lawyer has been notified but of course it’s late Friday afternoon.
Any info would help.
Thanks
simple, the buyer is having trouble getting the mortgage.

do you want to re-list in this market and get less money?

give the buyer some time to get the financing and close the deal....
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Jul 3, 2011
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pfcresu wrote: If the buyer asks to change date via their REALTOR, and the SELLER doesn't want to pick up the phone and ignores them..... All that will happen is that the buyer will talk to their Real Estate Lawyer and they will just send notification to the Sellers lawyer that the closing date has moved.
LOL
If the Seller REFUSES the new date, or ACCEPTS the new date (with conditions), THEN there could be damages. But, the damages would only be based on the damages caused by those 3 days.
LOL
When the judge asks the Seller "if you wanted to sell your house, why didn't you accept 3 days later",
That Time is of the Esssence. The Buyer signed an enforceable contract and failed to conclude the agreement according to the provisions of the contract.
And judge is going to LOL in your face and say, you didn't want to give someone during covid a 3 day extension????
good luck on that coin flip... i mean, you might be able to score the deposit.... maybe..maybe not.. it will literally come down to the judge. Because the BUYER COULD CLOSE, just on a different date.
LOL

No the judge is going to award the deposit to the vendor precisely because a contract is a contract, it is not a maybe thing and judges do not, under any circumstance, rewrite contracts agreed to by two parties.

The prevailing case law is Loblaw - and here's a little ditty for you on the ruling authority in our Common law, as summarized by one judge.
The holding of parties to their bargain in this respect perhaps met its zenith in Union Eagle Ltd. v. Golden Achievement Ltd., [1997] A.C. 514, [1997] 2 All E.R. 215 (P.C.) in which completion of the purchase of a $4.2 million flat was to take place on or before September 30, 1991 and before 5:00 p.m. that day. The purchaser’s agent arrived at 5:10 p.m. and the vendor rescinded the contract at 5:11 p.m. Citing the practicalities of business as the reason for restraining equity from relieving against clear contractual terms, Lord Hoffman wrote at para. 9:

… in many forms of transaction it is of great importance that if something happens for which the contract has made express provision, the parties should know with certainty that the terms of the contract will be enforced. The existence of an undefined discretion to refuse to enforce the contract on the ground that this would be “unconscionable” is sufficient to create uncertainty. Even if it is most unlikely that a discretion to grant relief will be exercised, its mere existence enables litigation to be employed as a negotiating tactic.
11 Minutes late, the buyer lost their deposit!

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