by brownbrady
A couple involved in a bidding war in April 2017 backed out of a $2.25 million offer after the market dropped a few months later. The seller sold the home at lower price, sued for the difference and won.
I think we’re going to see more of these in the coming months.
In a case a judge called a warning to prospective buyers in the GTA’s erratic housing market, a couple caught up in a bidding war will have to pay $470,000 after reneging on a multimillion-dollar deal to buy a Stouffville-area house.
David Lea and Yixing Hu submitted an offer of $2.25 million in April 2017 after being told there were multiple competing offers for the property, originally listed at $2 million, according to court documents. The bid was accepted, but not long after the market cooled and the Newmarket couple had second thoughts.
Feeling they’d overpaid for the property and having trouble making the down payment, the couple pulled their offer. In the summer of 2017, the market value of the home had dropped to about $1.8 million. The homeowners sued, and in a court decision this month, the judge ruled Lea and Hu had to pay the difference.
“When the residential real estate market is a rising market, most people — perhaps with the exception of first-time buyers, are happy homeowners and investors,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Mark Edwards said in the decision.
“When the market turns and drops, it is not for the faint of heart. The facts of this case tragically demonstrate how one family, presumably desperate for their dream home, became embroiled in a bidding war and overextended their ability to finance the purchase price of that dream home.”
Lea told the Star he and his wife hadn’t wanted to be involved in a bidding war. The couple is trying to sell their current house, and Lea said they may rent once they do.
“We’re probably going to have to rent somewhere. We’re trying to figure that out. I’m going to see what I can afford every month, and pack up the kids’ stuff,” Lea said, who is a father of four. “I have no choice. It’s the worst of the worst because you take the hit on their property and get these big damages, but at the same time (the value of) my house has dropped. I can barely sell it for $1 million.”
According to court documents, homeowners Douglas and Sheila Gamoff listed the Stouffville property for $2 million on March 29, 2017.