Kapowichhome
Q: This is regarding your column — “Loan officer’s advice frustrates buyers with a careful purchase strategy” published online August 27, 2022, in The Mercury News and East Bay Times — about homebuyers insisting on having a purchase agreement with contingencies:
Last year, the home next door in our Bay Area neighborhood sold quickly with contingent-free multiple offers. We missed that market. Those neighbors acknowledged that our house has more improvements and better landscaping. Yet, our home is actively for sale at a lower asking price. After three weeks on the market, young homebuyers wrote a purchase offer. The result was three days of counteroffers. It became ridiculous. Before closing escrow, the homebuyers want section 1 termite clearance and a foundation crack repair. Finally, our seller’s agent told the buyer’s agent to write a new purchase offer based on all the counteroffers.
We have yet to hear from their buyer’s agent two days and three nights later. Was it wrong of our listing agent to ask for a new purchase offer, including the price, terms and conditions negotiated on countless counteroffers?
A: It sounds like your seller’s agent told the buyer’s agent what to do. Unilateral email or text messaging instructions in real estate negotiations are off-putting, no matter how helpful or innocent. When asking others in a real estate transaction for a particular action, a subtle nuance is essential. Full stop. Transactional requests require the utmost care and skill.
Your seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent are negotiating a Bay Area home sale via email and text messages versus dealing directly by videoconference or phone calls. Big mistake. Have your seller’s agent schedule a videoconference with the buyer’s agent, you and your spouse. Don’t wait. Only then can you put this transaction safely back together, if at all.
Home sellers who can afford to fix a foundation crack should. Regardless of market conditions. The same goes for termite damage, an old roof, dry rot, plumbing issues or electrical hazards. Seller repairs strengthen negotiation power and appeal while adding value. Plus, it dramatically reduces days-on-market, substandard purchase offers, renegotiations or cancellations during a sale, and continually occurring post-sale litigation.
Homebuyers, living with the stress of homebuying, spend days and nights under the constant threat of buyer remorse. If home sellers and their agents knew that truism, they would realize selling a property “as-is,” aka in its present condition, is tempting fate and asking for trouble — real and expensive trouble.
Questions, concerns or inquiries? Realtor Pat Kapowich is a Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager and career-long consumer protection advocate. His hometown of Sunnyvale, California, is where he is based. Office Landline: 408-245-7700, Pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com Broker# 00979413 www.SiliconValleyBroker.com
Originally published at Pat Kapowich