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Falling Markets: How To Stop A Buyer From Getting Out

Summary of How To Stop A Buyer From Getting Out of Contract

  1. Review the agreement to make sure the seller’s side has complied with all critical dates.
  2. Condo/HOA information has been provided to seller.

Transcript of How To Keep Buyers In Deal for Seller’s Real Estate Agents in Florida

00:14 Hi, welcome back to another episode of title talk, where today’s topic is how to make sure your transactions is gonna close. When markets are moving downward in value.

I’m Jim Brown, Florida real estate attorney and founder at New Path Title and James Brown Law. And every week I get realtors referring buyers and sellers to me. And we have the unique opportunity to give you guys the topics that buyers and sellers and realtors are calling us about that are relevant. And for the last, I would say six weeks, we have been receiving a disproportionate number of calls from buyers who are looking to escape their transaction, cuz they locked in a few months ago or they locked in a few weeks ago and they think they may be paying too much. And so they’re looking for a way to get out of their contract. And we get calls from sellers that say the buyer retain an attorney and the attorney wants to the buyer doesn’t want to close.

01:13 And so the first thing everybody does is they look, the first thing attorneys do on behalf of their clients is they look to the contract to make sure the other side performed. So there’s a lot of critical dates and there are a lot of issues that we’re gonna go over in a few minutes. Title leap gives realtors all the critical dates. So you don’t fall behind on those issues. And we’re gonna talk about some of the issues that come up with regard to those critical dates.

Second deposits don’t need to say a whole lot about that financing two conditions and financing that everybody has to be aware of sellers. You wanna make sure that that buyers checking all the boxes. So you have all your options open. So you have the buyer’s approval contingent on the actual approval for financing and the buyer and lender having obtained the appraisal. They wanna, you wanna make sure that they’re making application within that five day period. That’s the default provision and the approval that is contingent on the sale of buyers. Other property is not an approval. So that’s something to keep in mind. Sellers can actually cancel the contract for that reason. If that approval is subject to sale of other buyers’ property

02:35 Title evidence, that’s a biggie. So buyers will want to cancel the contract. If sellers haven’t delivered their title evidence. If you look at section nine C, there’s a title, evidence, deadline, again, title E gives you those deadlines right in the app and you can make sure you’re hitting those dates very easily and efficiently. And in Palm beach county, that’s a seller’s duty. So that’s the first thing the buyer’s gonna say is that seller didn’t deliver the title insurance evidence in time, and that’s a commitment and hard copies. So I’ve seen actual recently attorneys attacking sellers for not delivering the hard copies of the exceptions. Property inspections. Don’t need to say a whole lot about that, but Ty leap does give you the reminder you want to be cognizant of when your inspection periods end. And if you’re working in a condominium association, I’m giving you the biggies that come up all the time.

03:34 If you’re working in a condominium association, you wanna make sure that you’ve given an accurate statement of the fees. And so the fees and assessments. And so there’s a case called pine tree that allows a buyer to cancel the contract. If they don’t know what the fees are up until the day of closing. So we’ve had a couple of cases where the fees were misstated. Not accurately stated in the contract and the buyer argued that they had the opportunity to cancel the contract. And you don’t want to have that. You want, what we’re trying to do is avoid unnecessary dialogue between the parties, right? So if we can nail the fees number right off the bat, it’s a non-issue. If you’re closer in the ballpark, you’re always gonna find a buyer’s attorney who says they’ve been misled. There’s also a requirement to deliver certain condominium documents.

04:25 And so you have the declaration of condominium articles of incorporation and the bylaws and the rules. So those are three separate documents, declaration of condo, the bylaws and the rules. And then you also provide the most recent year end financial information and frequently asked questions and answers. So there’s a whole lot there to unpack. And the other day I saw one recently where they delivered some budgeting information, but it wasn’t the most recent year end financial information. And so the buyers arguing that they can void the contract because they didn’t get that information and they canceled within the timeframe that they had to cancel. And so you wanna make sure as a seller’s agent and you wanna make sure as a buyer’s agent, you’ve delivered all those things. So your contract is shored up. The goal is that people don’t have the opportunity to cancel at the last minute.

05:18 And so what happens if you do find a transaction where your buyer is whether you’re on the sellers side or the buyer’s side, your buyer is wanting to avoid the transaction because they think that the values have gone down, but they’re looking for other excuses. So what you wanna do as a seller’s agent is you wanna make sure your sellers have given notice the title agent and everybody in the transaction, that they are ready, willing, and able to close. And you want to go through all the motions of closing. So even if your buyer is hemming in high and you’re still contacting the title agent, and you’re saying, please send us closing documents and wiring information where our proceeds are. You’re gonna send them wiring information where your proceeds are gonna go. You’re doing all little things to give the appearance that the seller wants to close.

06:04 This transaction is willing to close this transaction and is prepared to close this transaction. And so what you don’t want to have is after the transaction was supposed to close the buyer saying, well, the seller wasn’t ready either. So you’re doing all those things. It’s a little extra calorie burn, but it’s gonna give you the best shot at keeping the deposit and or making sure your buyer gets to the closing table. And then if they don’t close, if the buyer doesn’t sign, then the day after the transaction, you’re sending a notice of cancellation and you’re telling the buyer you’re gonna re-list the property immediately. So you’ve done all those things to best set up that deposit. And we can talk more about the, what happens if the buyer doesn’t close. We have another title talk on the, on the site where you can find out what happens when buyers don’t close and what happens when sellers don’t close.

06:56 But for now the goal is just shore up that transaction, put your seller in the best position and apply leverage to the buyer to make them close, or if they don’t close the best shot at the deposit. And remember tightly provides you all the critical dates to your phone in the app and you can stay on top of that stuff. And your clients also get the same reminders. I hope you guys have found value in this. I really provide, I really enjoy doing these things for you guys. And I look forward to doing our next title talk together in the meantime, hope your road to closing has no potholes.

Contact An Experienced Florida Real Estate Attorney

If you find yourself in a situation where the buyer is trying to get out of their contract, you need an experienced Florida real estate attorney to help you. Contact us at info@jamesnbrownpa.com or 561-838-9595 for a Free Consultation.

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