As it turns out, the buyer for my old house fell through. The agency that was guaranteeing his financing, NACA, required him to consult with them on the Home Inspection Contingency (which he had already sent to me, and I had already countered once). Before he could counter-offer my counter-offer, they determined that there were a number of code-compliance issues that they insisted on having the seller fix. Here’s the catch: they could not explain to the buyer (their client) what they thought should be fixed in sufficient detail that he could actually request it. They refused to put their demands in writing, and refused to talk to my agent (the seller’s agent).

So, as he was legally obligated to do, the buyer sent over a release letter, essentially bailing out of the deal. I was quite disappointed and angry, because I’d wasted two weeks of the peak selling season on a deal that fell through. Caveat vendor. Likewise, the buyer not only wasted his time and effort, but had paid for a professional home inspection of a house he ended up not being able to buy because NACA was unresponsive and uncommunicative.

For me, the story has a happy ending. My agent called me with the news on a Saturday, saying that he had the release, and would put the house back on the market in the Major Listing Service (MLS). On Sunday, I went over to mow the lawn and clean the place up (again). While I was there, a couple came by to look at the house. On Monday morning, I had a new contract from that couple, with a real financing letter, $500 better offer (net), and a requested closing date only one day later than the old contract. So cross your fingers, I’ve got another contract that I feel much better about.