For Sale By Owner - A true Story!

We'd like to tell a story today. It's The Story of the "For Sale By Owner". So gather round and listen up! This is one for the books. We were contacted from some out of town Buyers a few months back through our website, www.HammersTeam.com. They were a young couple transferring with their company and the original contact was made by the young man's Mother. Being parents ourselves, we understand the concept of helping your children to make major decisions like purchasing a place to live. We did it ourselves when we bought our first home and we certainly respect it. Having said that, we were happy to help this couple and were willing to assist them when one of the homes they wanted to look at was a "For Sale By Owner". The following steps are the steps we took in an effort to represent our Out of Town Buyers.

1. We contacted the "For Sale By Owner" and asked him if we were to bring a Buyer, would he be willing to pay a real estate commission. When he agreed,
2. We sent him a consent form stating that he was willing to cooperate with a real estate agent at our agreed upon commission. He signed it and we proceeded.
3. We set up an appointment to show the home along with others in the Townhome complex.
4. Our Buyers were under time constraints so they made an offer quickly and we proceeded to...
5. Negotiations which took some time and in the interim they explored other properties and made multiple offers, against our advise.

We were sympathetic to the couple's time constraints and wanted to do our utmost to represent them in their quest to get a place to live as soon as possible to accommodate their pending transfer. When you're working across state lines with a Buyer who must take plane trips for each visit, it's easy to be sympathetic.

On the other hand, we expect that when a Buyer decides to work with a real estate agent that there should be some level of trust between the parties involved. That wasn't the case and so we continued to exhibit the kind of professionalism that we feel is imperative despite the signs that indicated the contrary was apparent. Next.....

We were able to negotiate terms that were acceptable to both the Buyer and Seller of the For Sale By Owner and we proceeded to the "Attorney Review" phase. This phase is recommended in the state of New Jersey. Since our Buyers were from out of town, we provided them with several names of local Real Estate Attorneys whom we've had experiences with from past Buyers. The review concluded successfully and we proceeded on to the next contingency of the contract - The Downpayment. The State of New Jersey recognizes that there are complexities in the real estate transaction which is why they recommend the use of the Attorney.

Turns out our Buyers selected an Attorney who was extremely attentive but the Buyers continued to seek council from their parents and take their advise first. When they couldn't bring the Downpayment monies to the table by the time frame set forth in the contract they contacted the Seller directly and re-negotiated the amount and time the monies would be due.

At this point we seriously considered removing ourselves from the transaction but we felt obligated to consummate the sale. So we went on to the next phase, the Home Inspection. Once again, names of Inspectors were provided by us for the convenience of the Buyers. In addition, we set up the Inspection as well as attended it on the Buyer's behalf since they were out of the area. Now the time frame set forth in the contract for the Inspection phase was running out and we had to make numerous calls back and forth only to find out that the Inspection Report was delayed because the Buyer never paid the Inspector or signed the release form.

O.K., so now we're past that part and everything is a go to the next phase, the Mortgage Contingency. That's right!!! Now that was late due to problems getting the necessary paperwork to the Lender. So extensions are accommodated and we proceed to attempt to set a Closing Date. In the midst of everything, the Buyers have now insulted the Attorney by not following his council, annoyed the Inspector for not paying him in a timely manner, really annoyed the Lender for not providing the documentation for underwriting and now us for having referred them to the people we have relationships with in the Industry. So the Closing is set and we move to do the Final Walk Through. The Seller decides to go on vacation (it is July) and leaves the key with his Attorney who is a friend and a Trial Attorney instead of a Real Estate Attorney. So off we drive an hour out of the way to pick up the key from their Attorney's office.

We get to the Townhome and our Buyers come with their parents in tow and some belongings to move in. Insult meet Injury - the Key doesn't work!!!!! We make numerous calls to the Attorney who is nowhere to be found and the Seller who is vacationing and there we sit in 100 degree weather scratching our heads. So our Buyer using her Mother's cell phone puts a call into the Seller. Obviously the number wasn't recognized so he picks up and the Buyer starts yelling at him and he hangs up on her. Now our Buyer is enraged and wants to sue everyone but without any real cause, we do our very best to continue to try to help them. We get in touch with their Attorney and the Seller's Attorney finally shows up to the closing table with the right keys. Now we have to drive a half hour to the Attorney's office to pick up the keys so we can drive a half hour back to the Townhouse (in rush hour traffic) to do the final walk through. The Buyer's Attorney recommends that they do a Paper close and hold the monies in escrow until they move in and make sure all is o.k. But Mom steps in again after 3 hours in the sun and says "NO" - not until we have a walk through.

The Buyers are forced to pay for lodging as well as storage for their belongings and now we are at the threshold of saying "why are we doing this again"? On a side-note, this Closing was originally set to be the last day of June and didn't close until July 10th. Turns out the two Attorneys could have closed that evening but our Buyer insisted on following along with Mom's advise to not close until the walk through directly prior to the Closing. If they would have followed their Attorney's advise, they could have saved on costs for two night's stay at a hotel and storage for their belongings. The next time someone you know asks why not "For Sale By Owner"? - just tell them The Story of the "For Sale By Owner", as told by us. The moral of the story? You get what you pay for.

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Interested in Buying or Selling in the Pascack Valley and surrounding towns of Bergen County, New Jersey? Call Bob & Lisa at (201)218-6802or visit us online at www.HammersTeam.com. We're you're Pascack Valley Real Estate Resource.