All Forum Posts by: Donald Robers

Taking the questions you raised in order -

1.  No REA will want to use your own contract rather than the state-approved contract in current use by their brokerage.  An agent filling out an unfamiliar contract form is more likely to make a mistake that would leave him or her liable for damages.  The carrier of the Errors and Omissions insurance policy of the brokerage also is likely to require the use of state-approved forms.

2.  My state's listing contract specifically states that the REA has no responsibility to financially qualify a buyer.  That said, if asked an agent will give the seller his opinion of the relative likelihood that you will have the funds to close the transaction.  So you would need to convince the agent that you can perform financially.  Could you get a letter of intent from your end buyer?  Of course, the danger in this is that you are handing the REA a possible client.  You could find yourself shut out of the deal if the end buyer decides to save your markup and deal directly with the listing REA.

To clarify a litte more - the Offer To Purchase becomes the Contract To Purchase when it has been approved and signed by all parties to the transaction.

Total duck and cover scenario.

The house where I grew up had a community well in the front yard that served 8 households.  We shared the annual electricity costs and the cost of service calls which became more frequent over the 60+ years of the well's life.  Routine maintenance was done on a volunteer basis by about 5 of us.

Over time the mechanism lost efficiency, the water table dropped, and the feeder pipes became corroded and allowed bacteria to leach into the water.  Most of the households decided it would make sense to dig their own wells rather than try to patch-up the existing system.

Our lawyer wrote up an agreement to dissolve the Springbrook Water System that basically stated that any households who chose to remain connected to the well would be responsible for the further upkeep and the ultimate capping and retirement of the well.

I have no idea if this ever happened.  When we sold the house around 6 years later 1 house was still hooked up.  

I was surprised that we had no trouble selling the property under those unusual circumstances.  I only had to get a well company to do an inspection to prove that our house was no longer hooked up to the old system.

One more thought.  You state that the buyer is a former RE licensee.  Is it possible that one of the offers that were going back and forth had some sort of "Time Is Of Essence" provision stating that unless the offer was formally rejected within a certain time limit (week, day, hour)  by a certain method (1st class mail, hand delivery, carrier pigeon) that the offer would be considered accepted?

I am a little confused by the terms you are using to describe your situation.  It seems to me that by "contract" you mean "offer to purchase"  After a buyer's offer to purchase has been accepted by the seller the 2 parties enter into a "sales agreement" i.e. a contract.

If I understand correctly the buyer submitted an offer that asked for a 35k price reduction and the reimbursement of buyer's HOA fees for the life of his loan. There was also transfer of furniture involved.

You counter-offered with 3 different proposals which the buyer rejected.

Where I get confused is that you say you cancelled the "contract" and then 4 days later the buyer recorded said "contract".  An offer to purchase can be declined but I would not call that a cancellation. And so far as I know an offer to purchase is never recorded (become a part of the public record).

And if no offer was accepted by you there was no sales agreement to be cancelled or recorded.

Since you are both working with attorneys it sounds like you are selling this house yourself and possibly plan on seller-financing.  Your attorney should be able to explain to you what is going on.

Certainly do not listen to me.  I am neither a legal or RE professional.  Just a guy who has bought and sold a few houses.

If this were a just world Clayton and Natali would have arrived in Portugal to find their  getaway house a vandalized, burnt-out shell.

THE FOUNTAINHEAD - Also by Ayn Rand.  Main character is an idealistic architect'

THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Durbus III - An immigrant Iranian buys a house at a Sheriff's sale and runs into conflict with the former owner.                                                                              

Building A Team: The people you should know in your Federal Correctional Facility.

If I understand the events correctly:

1.  Buyer made you an offer for your property.

2.  You accepted the offer.

3.  There was a contingency in the offer calling for a pest inspection.

4.  Evidence of termite damage was found and the buyer wants you to pay for cure.

5.  There is a written provision that allows you to back out of the transaction subject to 

     return of buyers earnest money.  You have done this.

I am no lawyer but I fail to see how the buyer and his agent can hold you liable for performance unless there was language in the accepted offer that held you responsible for curing any deficiencies discovered.  Certainly holding you responsible for the temporary  loss of the use of his funds is a huge stretch.

One thing that confuses me is the "TTR" provision.  Is this a general "time is of the essence" provision that is binding to both parties or a provision drafted for this particular case?