the wasserblawg

I had the good fortune this afternoon to be retained in another Chicago condominium purchase. After an introductory phone conversation, I asked the client to forward his contract for review. Much to my surprise (and delight) I immediately recognized that the newest local form contract is finally in circulation. Ladies & Gentlemen of the real estate community, I give you "Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0. A more complete exploration of the Multi-Board 5.0 form will follow in another post or two. I know that a lot of realtors do not like the form for its shear heft (14 pages compared to the Chicago Board's 4 pager), but I like this one and encourage everyone to at least give some consideration to "trading up" These two features alone make it the best available contract for local transactions: A new font and larger type make this one emminently more readable, even if faxed 3, 4, or 7 times back and forth during negotiations. The electronic form (5.0e...

PART 1: QUALIFY THE BUYER BEFORE ACCEPTING THE OFFER Current market conditions present two unfortunate realities for prospective home sellers: prices are declining. Market times are not. As a result, the general perception in the marketplace is that Buyers now have the upper hand over Sellers. To the extent that there are so many more Sellers than Buyers in the active market this may be so. This makes many Sellers uneasy and quite understandably so. Once they get past the lowest low-ball offers, many Sellers are quick to accept the first "decent" price offered and then hope for the best. Reality is showing us however that merely accepting an offer does not assure an actual closing. There are still many perils and pitfalls that are keeping a high number of contracts from closing. Sellers MUST plan carefully to better the likelihood that the contract will close. This post and others that will follow in this series will offers specific suggestions to help sellers write better be...

Two days ago, I wrote about the re-emergence of multiple offer transactions. In response, I heard from a number of real estate agents who confirmed that they are encountering this phenomenon. I also have heard from another of others who essentially groaned and who all collectively wished for just one stinking offer , at this point, any offer. They are, almost certainly, still be in the majority - which lead me to states an obvious truth: These days, it (still) is really very hard to find Buyers who are willing to submit a written purchase offer. and perhaps a somewhat less obvious truth: That's just half the battle. Its just as hard (harder?) to get contracts to close. Doubt me on that one? Ask any realtor or real estate lawyer, mortgage broker or loan officer. Ask at the title companies too. They will all likely sigh heavy and confirm it. A great many contract are taken that never close. Even the contracts that can and do close have their problems. These days deals are just a...