Under Contract and Something Breaks – What Happens Next?

What happens in the state of Texas if you’re selling your house and you were under contract prior to the freeze? The freeze happens, and issues arise because of the freeze.

Contractually, in the state of Texas, the seller has to deliver the property in the condition that it was in when it went under contract. So that means if a pipe bursts in your house, sellers, yes, you are obligated to fix it. Not DIY, but have a professional, licensed plumber come out there and fix the leaky pipe. Regardless of where it is, it could be out in the middle of your garden or in your garage. You have to fix it.

So what happens if a pipe bursts in your house and causes other damage, such as damage to sheetrock, flooring, and carpeting? How are you supposed to remedy that?

Well, it doesn’t get specific in the contract. The buyer and the seller have to agree in writing on how they’re going to remedy it.

And the reason that I’m telling you that you need to have the discussions is because sellers think it probably needs to be remedied one way, and a buyer probably thinks it needs to be remedied another way.

For instance, I’ve had some issues arise in contracts where some things happened, and the buyer was like, “Yeah, I don’t care. It’s fine. I mean, just fix the leaky pipe and any residual problems. Who cares? It happens.”

There are some buyers that say, “No, you need to redo that sheetrock, redo that flooring,” and the seller disagrees.

There’s a section in the contract, in the Texas contract, that talks about how to remedy these things. What I’m telling you is, everyone’s brain works a little bit differently in these scenarios.

So agreeing to it in writing on how to remedy this situation is sometimes going to be a back-and-forth between the buyer’s agent and the listing agent.

And your job as the agents in between is going to be to be the voice of reason, but also to fight for what your client wants.

At the end of the day, is the sale of this house worth you griping over repainting that wall?

There are so many different scenarios in which this can happen, other than the seller just physically having it repaired. You need to work it out and agree to whatever you do in writing.

So again, note one: set a remedy on how to handle the situation. Whatever the remedy is, both parties need to agree to it.