From "Too Good to Be True" to Taking Charge: A Seller's Guide to Missed Deadlines
Apr 06, 2024Marketwise column for the Bay Area News Group and its flagships The Mercury News and East Bay Times
Published: April 6, 2024
By Pat Kapowich
Title: When there is a problem, real estate forms come in handy
Question: Regarding your March 30, 2024, column titled “You can get what you want, but buyers need to take charge” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:
In that column, the home sellers were late cleaning up the back and side yards. However, in the realty agreement, the home sellers agreed to complete the cleanup stages within 10 and 12 days. That did not happen.
I have the reverse situation. My job is selling my aunt’s townhome. As a long-distance successor trustee, I was thrilled to sell the townhome so quickly. It was too good to be true.
On Day Seven, the homebuyers still needed to remove their contingency regarding the homeowner association documents. On Day Eight, they were supposed to add an earnest money deposit to the escrow holder’s account. It did not happen.
My seller’s agent could be more helpful. How do I motivate the homebuyer to act? It is a simple question. When I ask my seller’s agent that question, the response is what my husband calls “realty word salad.”
Please advise what other home sellers can do in my situation.
Answer: Realtors have a library of forms for every situation at our disposal. Full stop. At the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), we have the Notice To Buyer To Perform No. ____ (C.A.R. Form NBP Revised 6/23). It is an excellent form.
The bolded first paragraph begins with “SELLER hereby gives Buyer notice to, as applicable, remove the specified contingencies and take the specified contractual action as follows …”
The middle of the one-page form consists of two columns of boxes to check covering dozens of topics.
For instance:
Column 1 is Contingencies:
1. F. Condominium/Planned Development Disclosures (HOA or OA)
Column 2 is Contractual Action:
2. M. Delivery of Increased Deposit
If the townhome is in California, share this information with your seller’s agent. If not, ask your seller’s agent or real estate attorney for a similar form or format. Act quickly.
California real estate attorneys remind agents to call out missed deadlines. That is good advice. Otherwise, according to the same real estate attorneys, enforcing the missed deadlines that follow becomes problematic.
For Housing Market Data in your area, visit my webpage for trends here. Do you have questions about home buying or selling? Full-service Realtor Pat Kapowich is a Certified Trust and Probate Specialist, Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager and career-long consumer protection advocate.
He is based in his hometown of Sunnyvale, California.
Office: 408-245-7700; Broker# 00979413 [email protected]
