+2
I know it's too late now but a few red flags that jumped out at me are. If they were going on vacation and couldn't sit down with you to go over a formal contract then why would you be concerned about them actually selling the house while they were gone? After all if they were honest sellers in the first place then don’t you think if they knew they had a potential buyer in you they would contact you first once they got back? It just doesn’t add up. They don’t want to sit down with you, because they’re leaving for vacation and don’t have time, but while they’re on vacation they have time to sell the house…? I’d say forget that, look me up when you get back and if we’re still interested go from there. Red flag 2 is wanting cash for a deposit. Why would someone insist on cash? If they were legit business people then why not a check, and if it was because they didn’t trust you then why would they do business/ rent to you in the first place? 3rd flag is the very informal and rushed meeting arrangements to go over something like buying a house? Seriously…Maybe the only thing you get out of this will be a hard lesson learned.
I would try to work something out with them one on one first. Explain to them your situation and concerns in a calm manner (assuming they’ll listen) about feeling rushed and not being made aware of the fine print. Let them know you see where they’re coming from and why they would want a non refundable deposit but that you let them know the next day and didn’t wait until the house was off the market for 2-3 weeks. If they are decent people maybe you can work something out. If not I would get legal advice instead of CR advice. I deal with contracting people on a somewhat regular basis and we always have to “negotiate in good faith”. I can’t go over a contract in my car. I’m no lawyer but there might be some loop hole, signing a contract from car to car while dealing with lager amounts of cash seems more like a hit man contract rather then a home buying contract, maybe a judge will see it that way too. Good luck though.