Consultation on breach of contract in the sale of second-hand houses. I bought a second-hand house. Before paying the deposit, the intermediary company said that the owner would cross the bridge before I signed the gold contract.
According to your description, the main reason for the problem is that the contract between the intermediary and the homeowner cannot be fulfilled, but there is no clear requirement for the time of performance. In this case, you can ask them not to buy it and ask them to refund the deposit. As for liquidated damages, it depends on the specific contract content. If there are regulations, of course, you need to pay. If there is no regulation, you need to consult a lawyer.
In addition, I suggest that you can negotiate with the intermediary to sign a supplementary agreement, requiring the owner to complete the bridge crossing before a certain time, otherwise it will be treated as a breach of contract and the amount of liquidated damages will be agreed. You can collect liquidated damages according to the contract if it is not completed, and you can buy a house normally after completion. Of course, if you really don't want to buy this house, just refund the deposit directly, and the compensation part is open to question.