Travels through Property Law by Tom Brodersen, Esq.
Get Real About Property! Saving the Deal!
Everyone involved in putting together the sale of a piece of real estate, the buyer, the seller, and the agents all work extremely hard to make it happen. Naturally, everyone’s heart is in the deal, especially the buyers and sellers. Once the contract is executed, many things have to happen (quickly) to get ready for closing, especially if the buyer is funding the purchase with a mortgage.
That is the point where things often start to go wrong. Issues may come up with the condition of the property. Perhaps timing issues with the mortgage approval arise. The seller may not be in a position to change his or her moving plans to accommodate the lender’s demands.
Many times, changes to the sale contract have to be made to keep the deal from blowing up. You may end up in a situation where the buyer wants to take possession of the home early, or the seller needs to stay in the home after closing. Although it is not a good idea, sometimes pre- or post-closing possession of the property is the only way to hold the transaction together. A written lease (at minimum) is required to protect the parties, usually with several special provisions in case any of the various additional things that can go wrong actually do. Drafting such documents is a job no Realtor®, mortgage broker or title agent is licensed to (or capable of) doing competently.
One very real risk is that, if you give a buyer early possession, for example, the buyer may end up entirely unable to get their mortgage and close, ever! In that case, you may end up having to evict them, at significant expense and with a very inconvenient delay of your efforts to sell the property to someone else. So, you really do need every thoughtful protection that can be put in place.
There is no substitute for experience with these complications, not only in foreseeing them, but in coming up with solutions. There is also the challenge of explaining to the parties how the patches, fixes and special contract provisions all work, and why they should be done. Everyone has to have confidence to go forward or the deal collapses.
Difficult, challenging property sales transactions demand a team approach: listing agent, cooperating (showing) agent, lender, and real estate attorney. But you never know which ones are going to be challenging, so if you have your team in place in all of your transactions, you are ready for anything.
ANDERSON & BRODERSEN, P.A.
350 Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706(727) 363-6100
www.PropertyLawGroup.com