My agent has put a contract together for me to sign so that we can submit to the listing agent who is also the owner of the subject property in which I plan on purchasing. He sent me the contract to sign but he also sent an amendment to be signed with all of the requirement I wish to have met (Repairs to the fence, cellar door, and things of that nature). I was under the impression that an amendment was only necessary after the contract has been executed to add changes to the original contract. 

After signing both of these contracts could the seller refuse to sign the amendment and just sign the contract making it a valid contract and I not be entitled to anything which was listed in the amendment? 

Thanks for the help in advance. 

Possibly.  Either way , I assume you have an option period to rectify that if needed. I would not have done it that way 

Which way would you have done it? 

He said we should remove the option period as the home would not be completed within the ten days option period so the inspection, appraisal, and all that would be conducted after the home was completed. 

I would like to see the content within the amendment be moved to the contract and the option period move to two weeks prior to closing personally... But he is saying this is unheard of, again interested in hearing how you would structure it. 

Home completed? New construction or a reno?  

As a seller or a broker, I prefer never to go over 7 days for an option period unless you are willing to put up a huge option fee. Keep in mind you are asking the seller to take the property off the market for an extended period for $xx

I would have included any requested upgrades/repair requests within the body of the contract 

@Joshua Standing Cloud

Assuming you're using the TREC residential contract form, I would have added an Exhibit "A" detailing the items (and referencing para. 7(D)(2)) and incorporate the Exhibit into the contract in para. 22 under "Other".  After all, the seller could sign the contract form and not sign the amendment (if there is not language included in para. 11 or para. 22 requiring otherwise) and the amendment has no effect. 

Previously, I have addressed the Termination Option in my Exhibit too. The commencement of the option period can be delayed to any time in the future as long as all parties agree.   

@Guy Gimenez

Thank you, Just what I was looking for. 

@Guy Gimenez

@Joshua Standing Cloud

I know Guy typically makes offers on off market properties where an individual might be more inclined to accomodate.  The chances that an owner/agent to accepts a delayed option period is slim unless there are extenuating circumstances.  What did you mean by completed?  Is the property a flip or new build?

@Joshua Standing Cloud

An agent who tells you to forego paragraph 23 is walking on dangerous ground and I'll bet his broker would agree if he/she knew about it. There are other "outs" in the TREC form, but my guess is your agent is no more aware of those than he is about drafting a contract. Granted, an option period is useless until the property is "completed" because you're presumably unable to get a full inspection and that is certainly one of the purposes of having the option period. 

@Guy Gimenez

Finally got the agent to come around and construct the contract and exhibit the way you mentioned and how I felt it should have been done the entire time and this is the voicemail I just received. 

Agent: 

" Heard from listing agent (Also the property owner) and their not going to sign it until they take it to a real estate attorney because they have never heard of verbiage like that either like we had told you up front on that"

"So I hope that it does not end up in court that we were trying to be a lawyer"

"But umm I'm supposed to be on the conference call Monday, but nobody here has ever heard of doing that" 

"The bad news is that they are not taking it off of the market and there is a possibility of showing it this weekend" 

"Now if that verbiage went away they would probably sign it tonight" But with that verbiage in there they are not going to sign it until they talk to a lawyer" "So whatever you guys decide to do" 

Going forward I will never go into an intermediary transaction again as this entire experience has been one headache after another.  I feel like my agent is trying to bully me into signing and hope that I feel pressured into changing the contract to his liking or like I have asked for something illegal with the mention of "So I hope that it does not end up in court that we were trying to be a lawyer" statement. 

Run away. FAST.

I know you want to close on a deal you've put a lot of time into, but I'm sure all your internal alarms are ringing like mine.

Good luck!

Jeff Nordin

@Joshua Standing Cloud

First off...an agent can never be accused of practicing law if they are instructed to include verbiage by their client 

You brought up intermediary.  Are you using an agent within the listing agents office?  I would advise against that especially since the owner is the listing agent

You never answered why the property is not completed and you need the delay?

Curious as to why it would end up in court. Perhaps neither your agent or the owner/agent is aware that you have a right to protect your interests under any agreement, and as such, you can and should adapt the language that meets your desired outcome. I wrongly assumes a licensee would know and understand this. My response to inexperienced agents is this. I've never been to Guam but that in itself doesn't mean it does not exist. It only means my experience would not be the same as other, more experienced travelers who have experienced the beauty of Guam. His response is simply sad. 

Get a different agent immediately. If it costs you the house so be it.

Read anything you have signed with the current agent to make sure they don’t have any exclusivity to represent you, and then run.

the agent absolutely can alter the contract with provisions for repairs etc, and the exhibits absolutely can be referred to in the contract.

Anyhow as a prior poster mentioned, is this agent from the same office as the seller? It almost seems like your agent has someone other than you in mind.

Take control of the situation, the agent works for you not the other way around, protect your interest.