My husband and I live in Baltimore, and we've been looking for a home to buy since January. Because I commute to Washington, D.C. on the train every day, we have to live within a half mile walking radius of the train station (we don't have a car). Given Baltimore's crime rates, there are only so many streets where we can live, severely limiting the houses available to us. On top of that, because of our Mustachian values and retirement goals, we're not willing to go above a certain purchase price.
Despite all of this, we found a house that we love, close to the train station and in a slightly shady but definitely up-and-coming neighborhood (Johns Hopkins just bought a bunch of abandoned but historic property in the area to develop into theaters and studios). It was listed at $185,000. Given that the sellers bought it in 2009 for $147,000, we felt that was high. We offered $160,000. The sellers replied saying in order to move, they needed at least $167,000. We agreed to the purchase price and signed the contract. After the inspection, the sellers refused to fix any of the repairs (approximately $5,000 worth). They also refused to let us do a termite inspection until we agreed to buy the house and fix all of the repairs because they wanted to quickly get it back on the market if we asked to be released from the contract. Our agent informed us that the sellers felt they had agreed to a bad deal and could get more if they waited until the summer and thus wanted us to back out. Because the house was still such a financial bargain and perfectly met all of our needs, and there are NO other suitable houses on the market, we agreed and continued on. Today, a week later (a full month after we signed the original contract) after we agreed to pay all the repairs on our own, our real estate agent informed us that the husband-seller just lost his job, and they are in "dire financial straits" and asked us to please not buy their house.
My husband and I are both lawyers, and we've read the contract. Legally, they have to sell us the house.
Interest rates our rising; summer is not a good time to buy a house, and our apartment lease is up in August, and we really like this house. There are still no other suitable houses. Moreover, we're wasting rent money when we could be paying a mortgage. This house is a huge financial find, especially given its size and the fact that it's in an improving neighborhood. We don't want to kick these people out of their house (they have a baby), but we could not get a similar house for, at the absolute minimum, $200,000 or $210,000. (The price that two houses several houses down from this house just sold for.) But, as I said, there aren't any houses currently for sale, at all, in the right neighborhood. What do we do? If somebody is in dire financial straits, wouldn't they want to sell their house for a $20,000 profit? Could they be lying? Are they just going to turn around and put the house on the market in a month? Is it just incredibly bad to kick people out into the street with a baby and no job??