Looking for advice/guidance. On a new build, we put money down as EMD. Trying to back out of the purchase for about two months now, because we found out the taxes are going to be twice what originally thought and the payment would be quite a hardship and well over the BAH for the area. How do I get the builder to refund the deposit? Their claim to the money is for damages, but they have the opposite since they have increased their home prices two to three times since we went into contract. Advice? Thoughts?
VA Loan Earnest Money Deposit Refund
byu/Abomb_bigpackages inMilitaryFinance
Posted by Abomb_bigpackages
6 Comments
You wasted their time (regardless of the house price going up or down), and they usually get to keep it since they held their end of the bargain. Not their fault your realtor/you failed to math properly.
Unless you are backing out due to a covered contingency in your contract (like the appraisal comes in too low, or you get declined for financing) by a certain date, you’re probably not going to get it back. The builder contracts don’t usually favor buyers at all. This is a risk for any new build; they tend to cost more in the long run due to property taxes and HOA dues.
read your contract but with new builds there are usually very few reasons to back out
There are 4 common contingencies that protect the buyer. You should speak with your buyers agent.
If you got in contract during an early phase out, what is the reason they increased the price? – they can’t just change it without your consent.
Your realtor should have explained to you that if you walk from the deal for any reason outside of some major code violation or something of the sort, you’ve lost the money. Earnest money is basically a show of good faith in contract negotiation and inspection period.
Who is your loan officer? A financing contingency may cover the increase in property tax.