Scott,
You are in Chicago. The rules may be different her in North Carolina. Also you know as well as any of us. One of the biggest ways agents get in trouble is by speaking for attorneys about law, speaking for home inspectors and builders when we are not contractors. You should know this. The saying goes ' we are a source of the source but not the source." This means dont speak where our license does not allow us to go. We all may have our own opinions. But opinions are not facts.

Consult an attorney. The buyer can sue you for specific performance. But only and attorney can look everything over. He or she may be able to find an out for you.

Why is no one asking the obvious questions?

Chris, if you are under contract but still under attorney review you can kill the deal for any reason but price. I get attorneys who do this to my listings all the time and "I dissaprove" is all they say because they legally have to offer no further explanation.

If you're out of A/I there is still a chance they will ask for extensions for getting a mortgage. If this happens you can simply refuse and when that day comes and goes your contract is dead.

If on the other hand you're a few days out from closing and these buyers have packed up their stuff and hired movers you're in a totally different situation.

Yes, you can be sued for specific performance but in all likelihood the buyers will go buy one of the other 10 billion properties on the market and be inconvenienced for a few weeks. People don't have the money to be suing eachother these days!

This is tricky. Hope the buyers are easy going people. You should talk to an attorney on this one and let him tell you what your options are.

You don't have to sell, however, be prepared to pay compensatory damages and other legal action. You should speak with a real estate attorney to get the best advice.

Not sure about your state, however, in our area any good attorney would tell you that if you ratified/signed the contract - then you've SOLD your home. Have your agent ask the Buyers Agent if they will let you out, hopefully they haven't spent any serious money on inspections. If so, you may want to offer to pay for those inspections if they would let you out of the contract. Good Luck...

Chris, first did you accept the offer? You can always back out but, if you have a binding contract then the other party can always sue you for "specific performance". In other words they would sue you to force you to sell. That does not always happen but, can. If you state your intentions early then maybe they will not. Talk to your listing agent and see what they say.

Hope this helps,