My partner called the seller directly and cut a new contract at a lower price after I already had one signed

Question

Found out when the seller texted me asking why two people were calling him about the same house. My partner's story was that my contract had expired, which it had by four days because I was waiting on comps from him. Whether that was intentional I can't say for certain, but the timing was too clean. He had the seller's number because I gave it to him. Deal was a 38k ARV house in a small market outside Tulsa, assignment fee would have been around 6,200 split. Not life-changing money but it was mine. Title already had my original contract on file and flagged the second one, so the deal fell apart for both of us. Seller walked. I lost the fee and the partner lost the deal. I'm not sure what lesson he took from it but I learned to stop sending the seller's contact info until there's a signed JV agreement in place that names what happens if a new contract gets written on the same property by either party. I also started setting calendar reminders at the ten-day mark on any contract so I'm not the one watching the clock from the wrong side.

kenji_ito44 · Answer

That 6,200 split on a 38k ARV is already thin. We're seeing assignment fees closer to 8 to 10k on similar price-point stuff in secondary Oklahoma markets because buyers are pickier and you need room to negotiate down at the table. The four-day lapse is what kills me here, because that's not a calendar problem, that's a dependency problem. You were waiting on him for the comp that let your own contract expire, which handed him the opening.

jenn_mcallister · Answer

Title company seeing both contracts and tanking the deal is the part that always gets skipped in these stories.

My partner called the seller directly and cut a new contract at a lower price after I already had one signed

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