Making offers- is there a short form?

Question

I started making offers for properties through my Realtor, and each time I get an 11+ page document that needs to be signed.

Is this typical, or is there a "short form" type of contract I can have her use? If I'm going to make dozens and dozens of offers, it seems like a lot of paperwork...

Is there an easier way?

Jacques Wurms · Answer

Hello Ken,

Sorry but the lawyers need all 11 pages :( however if you use Docu Sign or something like it ,it only should be a couple of clicks. You do not need to sign all the they addendum that belong with the contract but they need to be marked towards the end of the contract as to make them part of the contract. Once you have an accepted offer you can sign those.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

I use a Letter of Intent for my initial 'offer'.  "Dear Mr and Mrs Seller.  I like your house at 123 Main St.  My wife and I would be willing to purchase your property under one of the following 3 scenarios....i.e. 1) All cash cheap,  2) Down payment and carry the balance, 3) Lease with Option to buy.... If any of these are agreeable to you, we will draw up a formal purchase and sale agreement and open escrow with $/% earnest money."

I like that I can personalize it. I like that the seller will often pick one of the options, forgetting that 'no thanks' is also a possibility.  I don't use a realtor so don't know how they view this method. It's probably outside the box for a sales agent. A long contract used to be a lot more onerous than now, having to print and deliver.   Be glad about that @Ken Badziak!

Jacques Wurms · Answer

Hello Wayne,

You are correct about the addendum however for the purpose of making quick offers they can wait as long as they are part of the original contract. The important points of the deal are in the contract. The addendum are you just for the legalities and mostly standard. Like Chinese drywall, Condo paperwork etc..

Jesse T. · Answer

If you are using standard contingencies on a standard contract and the title is clear, you probably don't need a lawyer.

If you think there is a low probability of your offer being accepted, your agent might try an email offer initially.  You should expect to include proof of funds with the email.

Another technique might be the agent calling or emailing the agents for the target properties and asking about flexibility on price.  Then following up with formal offers on those that seem the most receptive.

With a FSBO or discount/flat-fee agent you might want to just start with a standard contract.  Otherwise you might end up getting back a non-standard contract as their counter.

With the technique of making a lot of offers, you want to make sure you can close on all offers that you have out at one time.

Ken Badziak · Answer

Thats what I was afraid of. Thanks @Jacques Wurms!

Question; do you have your attorney go through them all, or are they all pretty much cut and dry? Still new at this, and I don't want to screw myself.

Guess what I'm really asking is how badly do I need to find an attorney at this stage of the game?

Wayne Brooks · Answer

@Jacques Wurms

Agree.  These are the only forms us dummy agents are allowd to use.  But it covers a lot of stuff the "short form" investor type offers don't...so it spells obligations out better.  But, I have to disagree with the "don't need to sign the addendums until after the offer is accepted".  Until everything is signed, the whole contract is ambiguous, and non enforceable.  Additional language/terms could be added to any of the "referenced addendums" changing the intent.

Making offers- is there a short form?

Most Popular Reply