Can You Walk Away After Your Offer Is Accepted?

I'm going to tell you a cautionary real estate tale. This happened some years ago. We had sold a listing for one of our clients. The buyer, not our client, was to provide the deposit the next day. That's how it works. When you put in an offer in Ontario, when it says upon acceptance a certain deposit is to be provided to the seller's brokerage, well that's within 24 hours. The next day rolled around, talked to the other agent, the buyer's agent who explained that no, his client didn't want the house anymore. What happens in a case like that? Even some realtors believe that you can just not show up with the cheque and that's okay and the deal is, you know, you can just walk away as a buyer. Not true, not true. That goes to court. If you do that, the court is going to say that not only are you going to forfeit that deposit that you gave or that you promised to give in that agreement of purchase and sale, but you will also get sued for damages. If the house sells for less the second time around, guess what? You're going to make up the difference when you put in an offer, take it seriously. Make sure you want that house.