For Sale By Owners and the New Louisiana Purchase Agreements Mandated By State
Below is unfortunately what many FSBO (For Sale By Owners) go through and I see many emails and scenarios like this. We as Realtors can only talk about our contracts as we are not allowed to give out legal advice because we are not attorneys. We never know what purchase agreement a for sale by owner used, so it's hard for us to get in the middle of this situation. It's the small stuff of our purchase agreements that get a buyer and seller in trouble. Those are the things that we are watching for to protect our clients to make sure they are following all terms on the purchase agreement.
In January, 2008 everyone who works with a licensed agent in the state of Louisiana are mandated to use the new state regulated purchase agreements.
These purchase agreements will basically say the buyer has about 5 reasons to break a contract. In our state we have a specific performance contract. This means that what is written is what the buyer and seller must do to not be in breach of contract. In our new purchase agreements it is 10% of the purchase price and damages, etc. I would not advice anyone to use this contract on their own; my agents are retaking this purchase agreement course again with an attorney because of how complex it is. Unfortunately I am seeing buyers and sellers signing these contracts and they have no understanding of the meaning of all the terms that are written in the purchase agreement. If you don't understand something I would not sign it, but the harder part is following all the deadlines that are written in the contract. The seller also has certain rights to cancel a contract if things are not done and proven to them in a timely manner. So I would advise all For Sale By Owners to beware of just signing these contracts without help from professionals that have knowledge and experience using them.
Question From My Website - Thank you for your kind offer to help. I have a simple but stressful scenario. I have sold my house to a seller through private channels. Two Chinese brothers. Initial offer in writing, subsequent counter-offers in email. An accepted offer at $640k. With the acceptance, and prior to a deposit, i agree to buy another home. After that deals goes thru, and we are working on subject-to's, and once they get word of my deal, the brothers decide, on a whim, to cancel. Their only subject-to was financing, to which they have ample as they are buying as many homes in the neighborhood as they can. My question: once the deal is accepted, are they not legally required to complete it, or end it only by their subject-to's? And if so, do they not require proof of reasonable effort if i threaten to sue them? many many thanks for any thoughts, drew..
If you finance your home, the lender will require you to purchase title insurance for the amount of your mortgage. You will be given the option of increasing the coverage to include your equity in the property. The owner's coverage fee is a one-time charge that protects your equity in your new home, including its' appreciated value. Most experts agree that the additional coverage is a good idea.
Before your sale is finalized, the title company will inspect the public records and confirm the seller's ownership of the property. They will look for any liens that may have been filed against the property that must be paid off before it can be sold. Even the most careful search, however, cannot guarantee that there was not an error at some point in the transfer of title during the chain of ownership. Title insurance is one of those things you will probably never need, but if you do, you will be very glad you have it!
We hire contractors to build homes, make repairs around our homes, build add-ons to our home, gazebos, pools, plumbing, electrical, many different types of contractors and many different types of projects.
Regardless of what job you are hiring a contractor for, you should always get 3 written bids. You should also ask for 3 referrals of past clients who have dealt with each contractor. Once you have done all of your homework on this part, you should sit down with your contractor and decide on how you will pay him, what your expectations are of the project, what your allowances may be for the project, etc. You also want to ask the contractor about his companies guarantees and warranties after the completion of the job. How long does he guarantee his work, if you report a problem, how quickly will he respond, etc. And then, most importantly, you get everything in writing between you and your contractor.
If the contractor doesn't want to put what he promises in writing, then run, run, run! You should also remember that if any contractor produces a complicated contract that looks like it is written by his attorney, it is typically a contract that only protects the contractor. I would advise everyone to get a copy of this and bring it to an attorney to review and interrupt the meaning of the contract.
Typically the contractor will ask you to put some money down for the project. This money is typically used to purchase the materials for the project. If it is a very big job, you may want to set up a payment plan of 4 equal payments as the job is being completed. You should always keep in mind that if the contractor does not finish, do I have the money to hire someone else to finish the project. This requires you to never allow the contractor to be paid before the completion of each phase of the project. Another thing you want to keep in mind is that you should never give the contractor the last payment until everything has been personally inspected by you and all items are corrected to your satisfaction.
No matter what the verbal promises are about his coming back, you should request a completed project including all clean up before you give the last payment.
Dutchtown High School played Catholic High on their field in Baton Rouge, La Friday night and what a game it was!
We had lots and lots of fans who came out to support the Griffins and the team did great. My son, Tim Harp #86,sacked the quarterbacktwice in the game! Dutchtown's Kevin Saia was awesome against Catholic High and Lacy was great as usual.
We actually beat ourselves with all the penalties we had in this game. Every time we had a drive going, it would be squashed with a penalty. Overall, I think the boys at Dutchtown High did great. We have a big rivalry game against East Ascension High School this Friday and I'm sure our boys are going to be pumped up to play!
We are now discovering some recent changes in our flood zone base elevations that were implemented in August of this year. These changes will put some subdivisions that were not requiring flood insurance into a flood zone A which now will require flood insurance. A base flood elevation is set for everywhere in the state of Louisiana. Base flood means at what floor level will a home flood. If you have a base flood of 12', and the home is sitting at a ground level of 14', then you are 2 foot above the flood base elevation. When the Corp of Engineers comes in and changes the base from a 12' to a 15' base flood elevation, then the same home that was at 14' is now 1 foot below the flood elevation and this now puts you into a flood zone classification of A. Flood zone A requires flood insurance.
This recent change in the Flood elevations maps will require agents and buyers to become very careful in their easements of the Property Condition Disclosures given by all sellers. A Seller will say they weren't required flood insurance on this document, BUT that doesn't mean the new buyer won't be required to pay flood insurance of the very same property. Because of the time it takes for the sellers to be notified by the powers that be; they could very well not know about their change of flood zone classification for a year!
Priced $30,000 below recent appraisal! Wonderful 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths on TWO Lots making for a HUGE fenced in backyard. Kitchen features custom built cabinets with Corner sink, separate oven, microwave, breakfast bar opened to the breakfast room and a cook top. Living Room features a fireplace and an area for your tv. Living area is open to the formal dining area and both have wood type floors. Split floor plan with Master Bedroom Suite separate from other rooms. Also features his/her walk in closets, his/her vanity areas, separate shower, plus more. 4th Bedroom is HUGE and located upstairs and has a private bath area. AC is controlled upstairs with an on off switch to cut the upstairs off from the main home. Home has new landscaping and new paint! Seller will assist with some closing costs.
This lovely home features a Sunroom which opens to the rear porch area, cypress custom cabinets, wood floors, granite countertops, and a true split floorplan. Other extras include a huge utility room to fit a freezer, coat closet, and Master Bedroom with boxed ceiling and a bay window area. Master Bath features his her vanity areas, whirlpool tub, job built shower and a custom built linen closet. All information and measurements deemed reliable, not warranted.
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For Sale By Owners and the New Louisiana Purchase Agreements Mandated By State
Why Title Insurance? 
We hire contractors to build homes, make repairs around our homes, build add-ons to our home, gazebos, pools, plumbing, electrical, many different types of contractors and many different types of projects. 
Typically the contractor will ask you to put some money down for the project. This money is typically used to purchase the materials for the project. If it is a very big job, you may want to set up a payment plan of 4 equal payments as the job is being completed. You should always keep in mind that if the contractor does not finish, do I have the money to hire someone else to finish the project. This requires you to never allow the contractor to be paid before the completion of each phase of the project. Another thing you want to keep in mind is that you should never give the contractor the last payment until everything has been personally inspected by you and all items are corrected to your satisfaction. 
This recent change in the Flood elevations maps will require agents and buyers to become very careful in their easements of the Property Condition Disclosures given by all sellers. A Seller will say they weren't required flood insurance on this document, BUT that doesn't mean the new buyer won't be required to pay flood insurance of the very same property. Because of the time it takes for the sellers to be notified by the powers that be; they could very well not know about their change of flood zone classification for a year! 
Priced $30,000 below recent appraisal! Wonderful 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths on TWO Lots making for a HUGE fenced in backyard. Kitchen features custom built cabinets with Corner sink, separate oven, microwave, breakfast bar opened to the breakfast room and a cook top. Living Room features a fireplace and an area for your tv. Living area is open to the formal dining area and both have wood type floors. Split floor plan with Master Bedroom Suite separate from other rooms. Also features his/her walk in closets, his/her vanity areas, separate shower, plus more. 4th Bedroom is HUGE and located upstairs and has a private bath area. AC is controlled upstairs with an on off switch to cut the upstairs off from the main home. Home has new landscaping and new paint! Seller will assist with some closing costs. 
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