Recently, an elderly couple in Shanghai tried to sell their house and buy a smaller one but ended up getting caught in a “buy before sell” situation. They passively purchased a new house, and their old house could not be sold due to a mortgage, leading to the elderly man suffering a heart attack and needing medical attention upon finding out.
According to a report by Xinmin Evening News on June 30th, Aunt Ying, 78, and her husband Mr. Fang bought a property in Sunshine New Garden Community located at No.998 Changshou Road, Shanghai, seven years ago. The property is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit with a total area of 141.01 square meters. Now that they are older, they wanted to sell this house to buy a smaller one and have more retirement funds on hand.
On November 29 last year, the couple entrusted a well-known real estate agency to sell their house and signed an “Exclusive House Sales Agreement” stating that the agency promised to sell the house by March 31, 2025.
Two days later, the agency’s manager, Mr. Yang, informed Aunt Ying that there was a nice house available for viewing to understand the market, although their old house had not been sold yet. When Aunt Ying questioned this, Mr. Yang made excuses, saying that if they didn’t buy first, they wouldn’t have a place to land the household registration.
Aunt Ying expressed that as soon as the elderly couple stepped out of the elevator, they were surrounded by at least five real estate agents. Around 11 o’clock, a director named Zeng said: “There are many people interested in this house. The total deposit is 100,000 yuan. Please quickly pay 50,000 yuan to secure it.”
Facing the persistent persuasion from the agents, Mr. Fang eventually borrowed 50,000 yuan from a friend, paid the deposit, and signed three contracts to purchase a 116-square-meter two-bedroom apartment with an elevator. On December 7 last year, the couple paid the remaining 50,000 yuan deposit.
Despite the agency’s promise to sell the house by March 31 this year, they still hadn’t sold the elderly couple’s old house. Aunt Ying started to panic and prepared to find another agency to sell the house but was told it had been “online signed.”
The agency responded that they must either continue to fulfill the contract or compensate 20% of the total house price, around 1 million yuan. Mr. Yang, the manager, also stated that since the contract was signed, they had to follow the contract’s provisions. The total house price is about 5.6 million yuan, to be paid in full by October this year.
Facing the “million yuan breach of contract penalty” and the new house mortgage, Aunt Ying suffered a heart attack and collapsed on the spot before being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. After being discharged, her health deteriorated, and she made multiple trips to the hospital with the support of her family.
Later on, Mr. Fang, Aunt Ying’s son, tried to negotiate with the agency, but all their demands were rejected. He questioned various issues in the agency’s operations, such as a clause in the contract stating the house was not mortgaged while the old house was used as collateral, raising suspicions of concealing the truth. Additionally, he pointed out that the agency did not clearly inform the elderly couple that they were signing an “Online Sign Contract.”
Mr. Fang also stated that the agency’s “buy before sell” strategy was illogical and would not only prevent them from enjoying the benefits of purchasing their first home but also increase their personal income tax when selling their existing property.
The responsible person from the agency involved only responded that the matter is still under negotiation, and as of now, no agreement has been reached on the solution.