I recently listed a nice townhome in a decent neighborhood for a great price.  Sure enough. It got lots of showings and, lo and behold, an offer!!  Or was it?

A lot of paper came through my eFax number and into my e-mail box but when I printed it out there were a whole lot of blank spaces in the Contract of Sale itself and a lot of the Addenda. Yes, the names of the Buyers were there, the offered price was there, a settlement date was there and the signatures on the signature page were there.  Most of everything else was blank.

FHA Addendum -- signatures only

Addendum of Clauses (this is where the home inspection, Seller Credit to the Buyer and a lot of other stuff resides) -- mostly blank.  The inspection clause was checked with initials but no time frame, Seller Credit to the Buyer had this phrase: "up to 6%"(emphasis mine).

I could go on and on.

The bottom line is that the Buyer's Agent could have sent over a note scribbled on the back of a cocktail napkin to have the same effect.  Now, I'm on board with the fact that as long as it's in writing it's an offer and can be negotiated or, if accepted, enforced (as much as a 3/4 blank Contract of Sale can be enforeced). Yet, where do we draw the line?

If this particular offer had been accepted I would have essentially had to rewrite the contract from scratch to make sure the Sellers were protected.  Why should this be so?

The thing, too, is that the Buyer's agent works for a well known, multi-State franchise and I would have thought that they had some agent training somewhere along the line.  I guess not.

I would have hoped this downturn in the market would have washed out all the agents that didn't know what the heck they were doing?  But there are still a few out there.  I know.  They're writing "offers" on my listing.