The overwhelming majority of the public and a great number of real estate realtors and brokers have not read or do not understand all the residential real estate forms created and/or revised by the The NC Association of Realtors (NCAR), its Forms Committee and the NCAR/NC Bar Association Joint Forms Task Force. Its not surprising as many of the forms have special uses applicable in only a handful of situations.
That being said, if one did read and understand even only the forms used in virtually every residential real estate transaction, it becomes inherently obvious that all forms are biased toward the buyer.
One of the more egregious examples is the Due Diligence period in the Offer to Purchase and Contract form. Here, the buyer specifies a duration of time and an expiration date during which the buyer can access and inspect the home under contract. At any time, and usually that time is minutes before its expiration, the buyer may back out of the contract for any reason or for no reason at all!. During this time, the seller's home is no longer being marketed.
And, if you read other forms, similar examples of how the buyer,and not the seller, controls the deal become evident.
Well, good news for sellers, the great state of NC has begun to move the needle back in favor of the seller and one example published in July, 2019 is the Response to Buyer’s Offer (form 340-T)
First check box—The words “THIS IS NOT A COUNTER OFFER" are capitalized to emphasize that the seller’s response to the buyer's initial offer is simply an invitation to submit another offer containing different terms rather than a counteroffer that the buyer may accept.
A little backstory: Upon presentment of an offer, the seller has several choices: 1) s/he may reject the offer outright; 2) s/he may accept the offer as tendered without any modifications (other than the addition of all sellers signatures and the dates thereof); 3) s/he may alter or change some of the terms of the tendered offer and return it to the buyer; or 4) s/he may neither accept nor reject the offer and engage in oral negotiations with the buyer concerning terms the buyer would consider more favorably.
UNDERSTAND that if the seller alters any term in the offer extended, then the original offer is thereby rejected as a matter of law and cannot later be revived, absent mutual agreement. The seller has made a counteroffer, i.e., a new offer.
First Check box—The words “AT ANY TIME” added in last capitalized sentence to emphasize the fact that the seller is not obligated to “wait” on the buyer to submit another offer and may accept another offer from a different buyer at any time.
Second Check box—new choice added to address common situation where seller desires to notify buyers of seller’s intent to consider offers received by a specified date and time. The new choice makes it clear that the seller may accept an offer before the specified date and time and that the seller may choose not to accept any offers submitted by the specified date and time. Also note that the buyer is encouraged to submit their “best offer” rather than their “highest and best offer” since the “best” offer is not always the “highest” offer.
Finally, we have a form giving sellers the power to dictate terms of an offer, accept offers at any time or not and request the buyer's "best" offer. When you get ready to sell your home, this form is a very powerful arrow in your quiver. Another powerful arrow is me, your seller's agent. When you begin to think about selling your home is the right time to contact me by text or voice to 919-308-2292 or by sending me an email to: DRaczkowski@fathomrealty.com.
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