[Zedder]

Dan, Your only recourse is that he did not state that it was a non-refundable deposit. Have your lawyer send him a letter to the effect that you are prepared to finalize the arrangements immediately and that you will take legal action if he does not return the deposit (since it was not stated as non-refundable) or if he completes a sale with someone else...then keep your fingers crossed that he gets scared and lets you out of the deal. He is obviously a jerk to do what he is doing regardless of the agreement. The only area where I might give him a little sympathy is if you said that you would only pay him in full after an inspection. Ebay doesn't work like that...you win, you pay unless the item is misrepresented.