Jasmin Sheba had already sold her furniture in anticipation of moving this week when she learned the buyer of her house wanted $20,000 off the selling price to close the deal.He threatened to sue for the $10,000 deposit if he didn’t get the reduction, she said. But the stay-at-home mother was defiant.“I have a 2-year-old and, after all the house showings, the craziness, you’re going to try to back out? That’s not happening,” said Sheba.The real estate world is awash in buyer-beware warnings. But some homeowners and realtors are making a case for stronger seller protections — specifically, who gets to keep the deposit when a buyer backs out of an agreement.Until recently, it was rare for a buyer to try and exit a home transaction. Read more:Home sellers struggling with closing complications after big chill hits marketSix-figure income is needed to buy almost any GTA home: reportYear-over-year, average price for homes fell in July: CREABut a recent drop in Toronto region home prices — after months of frenzied buying — has caused a spike in buyers looking to exit or renegotiate purchase agreements. It’s widely considered to be part of the fallout from the Ontario Liberal government’s housing market cooling policies launched on April 20.The Toronto Star could not confirm that Sheba’s condo townhouse sale was among those cases. She refused to name the buyer for fear of endangering a successful resolution to the transaction.But, she said, she understands how a buyer’s attempt to renegotiate the terms of a sale can derail a seller’s finances and moving plans.“It feels like I’m in the passenger seat and they’re in the driver’s seat,” she said.In an unconditional agreement to purchase, the presumption is that the deposit goes to the seller if the deal goes south, said Toronto lawyer Neal Roth.But it’s not automatic. Both parties have to agr ...
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