Binding Agreement with seller beforehand?
02-02-2006 | 01:20 PM
#1
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Binding Agreement with seller beforehand?
Guys, I don't know if this is a common scenario, but here goes:
I found a good price for an rx8 on craigslist. It requires me to fly over to his location to do all the paperwork necessary to get the title. We agreed on the price.
Now, I am in the process of booking a flight. I realized that the seller can screw me over when I get there. If I fly out to meet him, and the deal falls through, I just spent time and money for nothing. He could:
1) raising the price on me when I get there
2) sell the car to another person and not tell me until after the fact
Is there anyway to safeguard these from happening? Are there binding legal documents that I can make to secure the agreed asking price? without a lawyer?
thanks for help.
I found a good price for an rx8 on craigslist. It requires me to fly over to his location to do all the paperwork necessary to get the title. We agreed on the price.
Now, I am in the process of booking a flight. I realized that the seller can screw me over when I get there. If I fly out to meet him, and the deal falls through, I just spent time and money for nothing. He could:
1) raising the price on me when I get there
2) sell the car to another person and not tell me until after the fact
Is there anyway to safeguard these from happening? Are there binding legal documents that I can make to secure the agreed asking price? without a lawyer?
thanks for help.
02-02-2006 | 01:43 PM
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From: Austin, TX
I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on tv, I didn't even sleep in a holiday express but here's my 2 cents. This is the classic caveat emptor situation. Buyer beware! This is not to discourage you as it is probably a straight up guy wanting to sell his car. But you should approach it exactly as you are.... cautious. Yes, those things may happen and I don't know that anything you do would "lock "him in.
Perhaps documentation that has been notarized to indicate an agreement if things went way bad then at least in court you could show some prior state of agreement.
Maybe...
Perhaps documentation that has been notarized to indicate an agreement if things went way bad then at least in court you could show some prior state of agreement.
Maybe...
02-03-2006 | 06:14 PM
#3
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Originally Posted by itamijin
Guys, I don't know if this is a common scenario, but here goes:
I found a good price for an rx8 on craigslist. It requires me to fly over to his location to do all the paperwork necessary to get the title. We agreed on the price.
Now, I am in the process of booking a flight. I realized that the seller can screw me over when I get there. If I fly out to meet him, and the deal falls through, I just spent time and money for nothing. He could:
1) raising the price on me when I get there
2) sell the car to another person and not tell me until after the fact
Is there anyway to safeguard these from happening? Are there binding legal documents that I can make to secure the agreed asking price? without a lawyer?
thanks for help.
I found a good price for an rx8 on craigslist. It requires me to fly over to his location to do all the paperwork necessary to get the title. We agreed on the price.
Now, I am in the process of booking a flight. I realized that the seller can screw me over when I get there. If I fly out to meet him, and the deal falls through, I just spent time and money for nothing. He could:
1) raising the price on me when I get there
2) sell the car to another person and not tell me until after the fact
Is there anyway to safeguard these from happening? Are there binding legal documents that I can make to secure the agreed asking price? without a lawyer?
thanks for help.
I did something more like what you did - I negotiated a deal by phone (with a dealership however, not a personal sale) and drove ~350 miles one-way to execute the deal.
I couldn't find any means of protecting myself except to prepare mentally for the possiblity of
1) the price turns out not to be what we discussed on the phone (bait & switch)
2) another salesman sells it out from under me
3) the car is damaged in some way which was not admitted to me over the phone (another type of bait & switch)
I tried to guard against these posibilities by having the dealer fax me the vehicle's invoice and price and making polite, but firm mention of the fact that if the deal was not as discussed on the phone I'd simply return home.
Hence the mental preparations - I'd be out $100 in gas easy, plus meal, plus a day off work, plus the heartbreak of not getting the car I was so psyched to own. Woulda been tough, but that was my only defense - being prepared to walk (or in your case - to use the return flight home).
Out of curiousity - do you plan to buy a one-way or a round-trip and cancel (or no-show) the return flight if the deal works out?
02-03-2006 | 06:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Cool-Blue-Dad
Out of curiousity - do you plan to buy a one-way or a round-trip and cancel (or no-show) the return flight if the deal works out?
02-03-2006 | 06:38 PM
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From: Orlando, FL
There are companies that do this for a living - they're called escrow companies. Usually they're part of law firms of insurance companies. Look in the yellow pages and call around. Depending on where the car is located you might be able to get a yacht broker to handle the escrow. They are accustomed to setting up long distance deals with very high dollar values.
Of course all of this is going to eat up some of the cost savings of your great deal so you might just want to look closer to home.
Of course all of this is going to eat up some of the cost savings of your great deal so you might just want to look closer to home.
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