"If it is not in the contract, and if the buyer walks because of this, the seller can sue for breach of contract, or in the very least keep his deposit. " There are so many ways to kill a deal under most contracts it is not even fumy. Unable to fulfill the financing contingency? Deal is dead. One of the oldest ones has been to have a wife decide to stop work for pregnancy. Not enough income available? Financing fails, deal is dead. No rental contract in place? Financing fails, deal is dead. If your house is so hazardous you fear every guest injuring themselves and then suing, it must be a real rat hole. No wonder it is for sale

In our area, so many contracts do not make the period of refusal after the inspection that we do not even put the earnest money into the escrow account after the contract has gone past the inspection and acceptance by both parties. If you want them to buy the house more than you are willing to walk away from these buyers, then you give in. If they want to buy the house more than you are willing to lower the price, then they give in. This is just a business transaction and you are coming to a new agreement about the price within the bounds of the contract law. You need to know what the contract says in your particular situation and in your local area or trust that your real estate agent will advise you correctly/appropriately. In general, the investor does not have to buy this house. Another house will come up for them. So they maybe willing to walk. You HAVE to sell this house. You are not in the driver's seat. They have the money, and you want their money. Unfortunately, if you call their 'bluff' you may hurt yourself more than the potential buyer precisely because they DO NOT have to buy this house and buy another house just as easily. It is just a commodity to them. Your real estate agent should have advised you this fact about the investor buyers. If your local area allows it, it does not matter what the reasons are, they have the right to terminate (within the deadline) the contract based on the inspection; as least that is the law in my state. I can simply say that there are thing about the house that I don't like 1,2,3 etc, and I have the right to terminate. The contract says that the condition of the sale is based on inspection. (there is always something one can use to get out if one really does not want to buy the house...) It seems harsh but in the buyers market, the buyers have that option. You need to know your market to know how much you can leverage the market conditions. If the market is so hot where there will be another buyer quickly, then you hold your position. If the market is soft and you are not sure if you will have another buyer quickly, then you renegotiate to get the best price that you can. If they are investors, they maybe more savvy than you about buying and selling houses and have a better real estate agent to negotiate for them. Don't take any of this personally. Evaluate each position methodically and take the one that meets the most of your needs. Take the emotion out of this and ask yourself what is an acceptable price to you to close the deal and negotiate toward that. In business transactions, unless the deal closes, no one gets paid; the seller, the real estate agents (yours and theirs), the loan officer etc. This is why all agents really work for the 'sell' and not the 'price'. Most of all, you don't get paid until the deal closes.

When we originally bought our house, it was new construction so there was no problem taking immediate possession after closing. However, now I'm getting ready to sell and the issue of when the buyer takes possession has been in the back of my mind. I will never forget a couple I knew of who had "sold" their home and, early on the day of closing, were loading their belongings into a moving van when the "buyers" stopped by to tell them they would not be able to close on the house after all - the sale fell through. Fortunately the couples plans were to live with a relative on an interim basis and they were not yet financially obligated for another mortgage. A second couple I knew actually purchased a new home on the basis that a buyer had signed a contract on their old home, only to have the sale on their old home fall through. With 2 mortgages they had several months of financial hell and extreme anxiety till the house in New York finally did sell. Is there some means (barring money-sucking lawsuits) by which a seller in those states requiring immediate surrender of the property on closing is protected financially in the event the sale falls through at the last minute? As for me, having known 2 couples to whom it actually happened, I'll be pretty much ready to go, but not actually vacated until the papers are signed and the check is in my hand. As for Sewhappy, if having to wait 24 hours (24 WHOLE HOURS!) is such a mind-blowing event for you, you have truly led a blessed life to this point.

I agree with Sylvia. If you used an attorney for your closing, contact him/her about what's going on. If you didn't use an attorney, retain a real estate attorney so you're prepared. If you retain an attorney, then all correspondence will be between the attorneys and the buyer can't contact you at all. Just a note. My wife used to be a claims supervisor with a large insurance company. Many times a claimant would make up a letterhead with some attorney's name thinking that an attorney will intimidate her. (It never worked since the adjustors are friends with all the attorneys) But she always said that once an attorney is involved, all direct contact with the claimant ends.