A Buyer who misses out on a property he really likes can cause you grief. Avoid any suspicion that you did not act aggressively representing him. A greedy Seller with a fair lawyer can dispute the validity of a sale if the Seller does not possess a copy of a fully executed contract. Transaction documentation begins when you submit or receive the Purchase Agreement.

MULTIPLE OFFERS

We are in the season of multiple offers. It is important to proceed quickly, fairly and completely. Seller's Agents must present all offers to the Seller up to the time that the property transfers title to the new owner. If the Seller no longer wants to see any more offers, get that instruction in writing.

When you are on the Buyer's side, As soon as you fax your offer to the Seller's Agent, contact him to confirm that he received it. Ask when it will be presented. Remind the Seller's Agent to return your Purchase Agreement signed and dated by the Seller along with the first counter offer. You want to remove any doubts from the Buyer that your offer reached the Seller in good time and was seen and reviewed by the Seller.

All too often, we see "Per Phone Call with Seller" in lieu of the Seller's signature on the Purchase Agreement. The first thing this tells

you is that the Seller did not actually see or read the Purchase Agreement.

When you are on the Seller's side, alert all Buyer's Agents that they are in a multiple offer position. Some Buyers may want to change their offer. Review each Purchase Agreement in detail with the Seller in person, unless it is not possible. At the very least, fax or e-mail the offers to the Seller. It is important that you return all 8 pages of the Purchase Agreement and Buyer's Advisory signed by the Seller along with the counter offer. You may want to add "Buyer acknowledges that there are multiple offers for this property." on the counter offer. The Seller's signature on each page proves that he actually saw and reviewed the offer. A Seller signed counter offer alone is not enough and may present problems later.

In a flurry of excitement, Agents rush to open escrow without a fully executed Purchase Agreement, counter offer(s) and final acknowledgement by themselves. Strangely enough, even though the Purchase Agreement is also Escrow Instructions, many escrow officers will proceed and even close a transaction without a fully executed contract.

REJECTED OFFERS

One consequence of multiple offers is that you will have at least one rejected offer, whether you are on the Buyer or Seller's side. Rejection may occur immediately or at any point in the negotiations. It is important to have closure for every offer Merely not responding is not closure. Verbal response from the Agent is not adequate.

When you are on the Seller's side and the Seller wants to reject the offer outright, draw a line across the front page, mark it "REJECTED". Have the Seller sign and date below it. Fax the front page to the Buyer's agent. If the rejection occurs later in negotiations, have a Seller sign and date a statement that he rejects the offer.

When you are on the Buyer's Side, ask for written and dated evidence that the Seller rejected the offer. Present it to the Buyer for and have him sign and date that he acknowledges the Seller rejected his offer.

These extra steps take only a few moments and thicken the shield protecting you from your client.

COLD CASE FILE

The Seller's Agent receives a faxed offer from you while he is negotiating a counter offer for his own Buyer on the same property. He calls you several hours later to say that the Seller accepted another offer. You learn later that you were in multiple offer position against the Seller's Agent's offer and suspect that the offer was never presented to the Seller. You call your Buyer with the bad news. The angry Buyer blames you for not getting the offer to the Seller on time. Or, he blames you for not being more aggressive in getting a counter offer. The Buyer wants to see proof that the Seller received and rejected the offer and you don't have it. All you have is the Seller's Agent word. Did the Seller ever see your offer? How do you know? What proof do you have?

Documenting the events, conversations and observations on every file is the best thing you can do to protect yourself in a transaction. Now you can log your notes straight onto the web site file where they will remain for your reference. You can edit any entry. If you run out of writing space, please contact Charles at remerge@cox.net. He will increase the area.

Go to: www.remerge.com

Click: Check My Files

(Sample File for an example)

Enter: Your password in the Agent password

Box, upper left

Click: Go

Click: The Status Bar

Select: The status of the file you want to review

or All for your entire inventory, past and

present.

Click: Enter

Scroll: To the far right to heading Agent Log

Click: The Note Pad icon

Start writing.

Click: Enter to Save

 

The Agent Log is visible only to you and your Manager. Your REMERGE TC Coordinator cannot view your log. Please do not leave your REMERGE TC Coordinator instructions on your Agent log.

Continue to e-mail or call your Coordinator with instructions.

Remember to enter your New Listings and Sales as soon as you have a fully executed contract.

Got questions, comments and/or suggestions? Direct them to the REMERGE TC Gazette Editor Shelly Gorenstein at shelly@crestc.com