CostYou've waived your financing and inspection conditions, the deal is now firm and unconditional — and something changes before closing that makes you want out.
What's exposed once conditions are waived
| Your deposit | At real risk of forfeiture |
| Additional damages | Seller can potentially sue for the difference if they resell lower |
| Legal costs | Both sides' costs can become part of a dispute |
What usually happens
Once your conditions (financing, inspection, or any others in your offer) are waived or fulfilled, the agreement becomes firm and binding — you no longer have a contractual escape hatch built into the deal itself. If you then fail to close, you're in breach of contract, and the seller has real legal remedies beyond simply keeping your deposit: they can potentially sue for additional damages if they have to resell the property for less than your agreed price, plus their own carrying and legal costs in the meantime.
What you can do about it
If something has genuinely changed and you're considering not closing, talk to a real estate lawyer immediately, before you do anything else — the specific consequences depend heavily on your province, the exact wording of your agreement, and how the seller chooses to respond. Some situations are more survivable than others (a seller eager to move on and re-list quickly behaves very differently than one determined to pursue you for every dollar of loss), but none of that is something to guess at on your own.
Who to ask
A real estate lawyer is the only appropriate first call here — this is genuinely not a situation to navigate based on general advice from friends, forums, or even your realtor, since the legal exposure is real and case-specific. Act quickly; the earlier you engage a lawyer, the more options are typically still available.