Walked away from my earnest money on a house I was already ordering flooring for
1,100 square foot ranch, contract at 132, ARV I had at 205, scope I had at 24. First deal, six months of looking, and I got excited enough that I priced LVP and picked a paint color before the inspection.
Inspection found active knob and tube in about a third of the house behind newer drywall, plus a panel a licensed electrician wouldn't sign off on. Rewire quotes came back 14 to 19k. That takes my 24 scope to 40 and it stops being a cosmetic flip, it becomes a job I have no idea how to run.
Seller wouldn't move on price. Their agent said they'd had two other offers. I released and lost 2,000 of earnest money plus 550 on the inspection and a radon test I didn't need.
The part that stings is that I had already told two people I had a deal. Backing out felt like the failure and I spent four days trying to make 40k of scope work at a 132 purchase before I accepted the answer.
What I'd do differently: I'd have looked in the panel and at the basement joists with a flashlight before I wrote the offer, because knob and tube on a 1940s house with a partly finished basement was findable in ten minutes. And I'd stop announcing deals before inspection.