It hasn't been a month - but Friday will be 2 weeks. I just got off the phone with our atty. He has never had to deal with this in his 25+ years of experience in closings where the date keeps getting pushed off. HER realtor/atty. thinks it will go through - right now it's just a matter of when. Our realtor/atty. does not think she is finanically strong. We are revisiting the topic on Friday and my atty. has told me that my realtor has done nothing wrong in the contract. In CT the contract has a Mortatge Contingency date but the term 'time is of the essence is not in the contract' and therefore a reasonable period of time is usually given the buyer. There is a gray area here to define what a "reasonable period of time is. If we choose a date the buyer can say it was not reasonable. Also, the market is declining in CT and our atty said we are suffering damanges since we could probaly not get what we have as a full price offer when/if re-list. We can keep her deposit but this also is a gray area where she can file something with the town (for a fee) which would hold up us trying to sell our house to someone else - pending she getting her deposit back. Our atty. suggested waiting until Friday and we woul re-assess the problem if it still exisits. This way we've given her 2 weeks from original closing to obtain a mortgage. He claims we got a good offer from her and it's in our best interest to give her time to try to see if she can get a mortgage. If not, then document that the contract is no longer in effect and then we could re-list and most likley get less money. Our attorney has been in close contact with both my husband and I as well as our realtor. AND he returns calls when he says he will. Going to buy a St. Joseph statue after work. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

The renter is often at more risk than the landlord. the renter is betting you will be able to deliver clear title at some future date. You could mess up ad have an IRS lien attached . Have separate contracts drawn up for the lease and have him give you a non-refundable deposit on an option to purchase. The option often sets the price and terms of the purchase. The option price is to give him an incentive to maintain the place (or at least not do any excessive damage) and you the money needed to bring it back to salable condition. From your view point, more money is better. He of course would prefer less. Your risk is for a wild price increase during the option period. I have sold a couple houses as actual rent-to-buy type contracts. Both went to professional level folks with medical related bankruptcies. Both worked out well. I gave a rent credit, and the option price had an 'increase clause'. Both couples got back on their feet quickly and exercised the purchase option in less than 18 months. Both behaved far more like owners from the get go, likely reenforced by making them responsible fr AL maintenance during the option period. Without needing to set aside rent money to cover maintenance issues, the credit they got did not really hit my finances. Make sure you have a very good RE attorney draw up the agreements. This post was edited by brickeyee on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 8:39

Drawing your equity loan to it's fullest extent will not prompt a demand notice from the bank...it's completely allowed. If they have issues with establishing value, which is the case in the above posters problem, than they can ask for a new appraisal (read the documents!). If that appraisal does not support the value, they're unlikely to forclose...but are likely to want to work something out with you. You may have to turn this deal (OP) into a construction loan. The appraiser can do an "as proposed" appraisal, verses an "as is" which is what you're currently doing...and that's going to be a big problem.

It is great to hear some good news. I'm crossing my fingers that both you and your neighbor have smooth sailing through the the closing. It is also nice to hear a good FSBO story. While I don't think it is for everybody, every market or every house, but it sure appears to have worked for you!