October 24th, 2014 9:15 PM by Linda Holley
I love selling real estate in Florida and am very impressed with the training and support that I have received here by the Board of Realtors and my real estate brokerage. My real estate career began in Atlanta with that city's premier real estate brokerage, Harry Norman Realtors. After moving to Florida, I chose to work for ERA Waterside Realty in Sarasota because of the expertise and fabulous reputation of our owner and broker. The fact that they have never been sued is simply amazing to me in this business, which speaks volumes of client satisfaction.
Last week, I attended Sarasota Attorney Steven Greenberg's monthly round-table discussion held at the Sarasota Board of Realtors' auditorium. He discussed ways to protect our Buyers and Sellers by understanding the provisions of the Florida Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase (Florida Realtors/Florida Bar 2014 Contract).
New construction Buyers should have an attorney review the contract and close the transaction.
Financing Issues? Buyer and Seller can terminate the contract up to 7 days prior to closing if Buyer has not provided notice that the Loan Commitment has been received. Perhaps another Buyer has submitted a backup offer at a higher price? Seller would be happy to terminate!
Seller's agent -- keep up with the property survey process; also get copy of Seller's survey and title commitment immediately upon taking the listing and review them for any encroachments.
Buyer's agent -- request a new survey unless there are no changes such as a neighbor's new fence or any other changes to the footprint of the property. Without a survey, the Buyer may be waiving certain rights covered by their own title insurance.
Use contract addenda for both appraisal (Addendum F) in a cash transaction and Buyer's Right to Inspect and Right to Cancel (Addendum L).
This blog is intended as a "recap" of the information that I gleaned in the October 14, 2014 round-table discussion at the Board of Realtors. In no way does it reflect the details that Attorney Greenberg discussed on these issues. ******
Linda Holley's comment: Before I became a Realtor, I invested in two Rocky Mountain ski condos during the pre-construction process. The developer's on-site real estate agent worked for him so she prepared the contracts for us to sign and kept us informed about the closing dates. She did not disclose to the Buyers that she did not represent us, which was against the law in that state; we thought she was in our court but were we ever wrong! Our ski condos were over a year late being finished. Our Realtor fed us enough information to satisfy us that the project was going well and that the construction delays were caused by bad weather and equipment back orders. (Those two reasons happened to be stipulated in the contract as valid reasons for construction delays.) We the Buyers did not know what we did not know! IF we the Buyers had used our own Realtors, and not the agent of the developer/Seller, and IF we had asked attorneys to review our contracts and advise us about construction delays--and used attorneys to close the transaction--the outcome for the Buyers would have been far more advantageous rather than disastrous. We would have been able to obtain the correct information about the reasons for the construction delays, terminated our contracts and had our 10% deposits returned. Every professional and wrench turner in town knew that the construction project was one big mess and literally a joke. The Realtors felt that they did not owe Buyers the duty of honesty, but owed the Seller the duty to get the Buyers to the closing table. We all bought the condos and to this day we have all lived to regret it! Court settlements from the contractors to correct construction defects did not cover the out-of-pocket repairs owners are stuck with today.
I was the only owner who sued the Realtors because by then I was a Realtor and my complaint was within the statute of limitations period for fraud. I understood the duty of honesty that the Realtors owe to Buyers regardless of who they represent. You'll have to wait to read my book on this subject.
Today, I work as a Single Agent, providing full representation to my clients. If your agent does not ask you to sign a Single Agent agreement, then he or she is not giving you full representation. Always ask to sign the Single Agent form!Linda Holley, Realtor, ERA Waterside Realty, 5221 Ocean Blvd, Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL 34242 Phone: 941-914-4914 email: lindahrealtor@gmail.com www.PalmerRanchLindaHolley.com
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