Experience is SOOOO important!
Experience is key! I was recently involved in a transaction where the REALTOR representing the buyers was green! I was there once too…sure glad THAT’S over! :o)
We put a deal together but the newbie wanted to push the dates and make them super tight. TIP: Most lawyers want about 10 business days after subject removals to complete a sale. The new guy wanted to try and get it done in 5 days so I suggested he have his buyers call their lawyer to see if they could do it that quickly and I would do the same.
A couple of days before completion I receive a call from the new guy. The call goes something like this –
New Guy: “Ah, the lawyers are saying they can’t complete the sale and they are wanting to move the Completion Date forward a week – is that going to be a problem?”
Me: “Ah, yeah it is – didn’t you call the lawyer 2 weeks ago to make sure they could do a quick close?
New Guy: ”Ah, no… I didn’t.”
Me: “I did”
New Guy: “Can’t my buyers just become tenants for a week or so and then complete the sale?”
Me: “It can be done but it can get real messy and I’m not sure that my clients will want to do that nor would I advise them to”
As it turns out, my sellers had just gone through a messy situation where it took them 5 months to evict tenants who were destroying their home. The tenants even stole all their appliances and left dodge!
I’ll leave it there but as I’m sure you can imagine there were several more conversations, emails and voice messages that went back and forth with lawyers involved, managing brokers, insurance companies, addendums, and unbelievably STRESSED out clients!
The Bottom Line
Well written contracts are enforceable and if breached can have some SERIOUS consequences and lots of STRESS! When it comes to real estate transactions there are many moving parts. Experience and diligence are critical!
