It was bound to happen eventually, but the seller said, “I’ll sign this contract as soon as my attorney reviews it.”
Great.
I mean, we have a deal agreed upon, and if the attorney is only going to pick at the document, I will probably live with some, but not all, of the modifications. I mean, this contract is pretty, well, “buyer-friendly.” It’s a good deal, however, so if we need to make it more balanced, I will probably still play along.
My concern is that the attorney will say, “Client, why are you selling your house for $115K when it’s worth $180K?”
Anyone have experience with attorneys being deal-wreckers?
I hope it works out for both of you.
Whatever the case may be though, dont sell yourself to them on this.
Use take away techniques of negotiating so that he’ll realize that consulting the attorney will only serve to lengthen the process, and if theirs time constraints for him on the sale…then slowing down the process could be detrimental.
Perhaps its just a matter of a few parts of the contracts he doesnt understand?
Yes, I experienced one recently (about 1 month ago). My contract was buyer friendly. The owner was out of town, thought my offer was great but sent it to attorney. Attorney and I spoke, the guy wanted me to delete ALL of my addendum, did not want me to have reasonable time of inspection and wanted me to change my down payments and free buyer of ANY liability.
When I went to see the buyer, she had a contract her attorney made. I had gone to talk directly with seller (a family member had shown me the house) What a trippp! Ha, Ha. I promised to deliver a new contract the next day. I did. Still buyer friendly.
I explained that it was just company policy. We need certain items in the addenda. She played the “I have other buyers” line. I said well continue to show it. Do what you gotta do. I told her it was company policy to be HONEST!!! I explained what attorney stated. She said she understood.
I found out, they were trying to rush this deal to close on a contract out of town. I couldn’t rush without inspection especially when it was over 200,000 cash.
I drove by this weekend. The house is still For Sale. ;D
“Mr. Seller, I have the best “Real Estate” Attorney in the state, so your “Real Estate” Attorney would know him If you give me your “Real Estate” Attorney’s name I will have mine contact yours.”
How many people have a “Real Estate” Attorney? This statement will get the seller off the dime one way or another.
This is just an objection in the majority of cases that was not addressed properly when talking with the seller.
I think a majority like having control. Plus, most look negatively on non-licensed investors pulling scams on their clients. Anyone is going to be thrown in this category regardless. And don’t forget, they must always justify their hourly rate. It’s business.
"“My concern is that the attorney will say, “Client, why are you selling your house for $115K when it’s worth $180K?””
Who wouldn’t ask that same question!
If you are going to have those “attorney involved” issues, I’d sure rather find out in the beginning of a deal than at the end. If its that troublesome, move on. These issues are not worth the headache.
I suggest having a Real Estate Attorney if you are going to play the game of REI. Sooner or later you are going to need their services.
I go to the other extreme. My contract actually advises sellers that they should consult with an attorney. I’ve even closed in the seller’s attorney’s office, and some of these attorneys continue to send me leads.
Most attorneys change very minor things that don’t really affect the essence of the contract. Only one attorney messed up a deal, and the problem was not price, but that he completely rewrote the contract. I’ve never had a seller’s attorney try to renegotiate price.
If I were a seller, I would be very suspicious of someone who tried to sidestep the attorney issue, or pressure me by saying it was going to take longer to close, or threaten to out-attorney me etc. This business has a bad enough reputation as it is, why would you do something that could be perceived as shady?
In my case I do have a top real estate attorney should the need arise. What I do not have is the time to mess around with some divorce attorney, personal injury attorney or other non real estate attorney that most people have.
So, I just cut to the chase and point this out to the seller, certainly if they want an attorney no problem, however if their attorney needs lessons in closing a real estate deal, then the meter goes up for everyone and chances are they will quash the deal anyway, because they do not understand how a real estate deal is structured.
One other thought, I offered the seller a chance to have my real estate attorney contact their real estate attorney, so I pointed out how important this is.
What would be shady is not disclosing to a seller they really need a real estate attorney to have maximum representation or you could just say my contract says it in the small print.
I told her it was company policy to be HONEST!!! I explained what attorney stated. She said she understood.