my real estate attorney has had my contract and other document since December. I called to confirm that he received the package to complete closing which is the 22 of February.

He asked me if I knew that I was paying at least a grand more than other parcels. i said yes, we have been doing due diligence for the last eight months on different levels with State depts.
The seller also guarantee that if the land is not approved for septic,well or building he will repurchase at the price we pay.
We also have right to timber,water,gas,mineral and oil.

Day before closing attorney says he doesn't feel comfortable with the sellers because they may not honor their agreements and to sue them would be costly.

is this normal on the day before closing that an attorney brings up concerns that were on his desk months ago? the property is across State forest 27 acres with over 2500 ft of river frontage and a creek flowing adjacent to the parcel. woodlots that can be harvested. buyers are looking for 2500 per acre. this is in the North COunty Adirondacks in Upstate NY.

ANy thought or ideas? Even if we wanted to back out we can't at this stage. we have owner title insurance and a warranty deed

I believe an attorney owes a fiduciary duty to adequately communicate with you in all matters in which he/she represents you.

If your attorney communicated this information to you in December, would you have acted otherwise? What basis does your attorney have to think the sellers will not perform? You want to ask a lot of questions.

At least you have a general warranty deed. That offers peace of mind.

The ultimate decision to buy is yours.

"The seller also guarantee that if the land is not approved for septic,well or building he will repurchase at the price we pay.
We also have right to timber,water,gas,mineral and oil."
Ask for an extension and perform your due dilligence that above mentioned "guarantees" can be performed, for your own piece of mind.
Or your attorney should add sufficient protective verbiage in your contract to assure the sellers written guarantee has meaning. What makes your attorney suspicious?

Pikes Peak,

We did just that, I contacted the seller who added and extended the dates for us so that we had time after my husband gets back from Iraq to make sure of the septic, well and other issues.

The attorney did not give me a viable answer other than "They don't do business like its typically done here". Attorney also said that the seller could change names or put the land in someone else's name and not commit to the repurchase agreement which is notarized. And it would caused us at least 10 grand to commence proceedings to sue.

Oakenfold,

I agree with you. That is what caused some confusion when these concerns were brought up two months after the attorney had purchase price info etc.

No, we wouldn't have done anything differently. We did eight months of due diligence gathering information from Conservation and Water, Army Corp of Engineer, Tax assessor, receiving topos, FEMA flood plain maps etc. THe river frontage and creek frontage are not in Flood plains. Our lender USAA pulled a copy to check as well.

The attorney had never heard of the buyers, they are not local in the sense of being from the same county. The main office is about 3 hours away in Tug hill NY and they own ten parcels in the county I am purchasing in. Sellers also did not give abstract of title which the attorney says is typically of sellers in that area.

I feel more like he was trying to discourage us after he received copies of our military id cards which have our pictures on them, because before receiving the pics, we didn't hear peep from th attorney's office unless we contacted them.

Thanks for your thoughts too



quote=oakenfold]I believe an attorney owes a fiduciary duty to adequately communicate with you in all matters in which he/she represents you.

If your attorney communicated this information to you in December, would you have acted otherwise? What basis does your attorney have to think the sellers will not perform? You want to ask a lot of questions.

At least you have a general warranty deed. That offers peace of mind.

The ultimate decision to buy is yours.



[/quote]

"Attorney also said that the seller could change names or put the land in someone else's name and not commit to the repurchase agreement which is notarized."
That does not sound like a Warranty Deed sale to me but a Contract for Deed.

The typical sale contracts I am familiar with have a time period for attorney review and approval; usually filled in for from 5 to 10 days from the final signature on the contract. If not disapproved (in writing by the attorney) then the contract goes to close upon satisfaction of the contingencies and funding of the transaction.