As most of you know, TLW and I have never worked in a regular Real Estate office before. We worked in a property management office for a few years but were the only REALTORS® there, so we learned our craft through trial and error and attending meetings at our local board of REALTORS®. By learning this way we have always done things our own way and really don't have a clue how other offices conduct their business.
So with that in mind, I have a question for you. I received an offer for one of my listings on Friday and as usual it had an additional four pages of disclosures and "CYA" type stuff that really had nothing to do with the transaction. I assume they are just corporate paper work requirements. To me, they are a waste of time and mostly redundant. It seems like whenever I do a deal with one of the "Big Boys" I spend the next week getting miscellaneous forms, from the Buyer's agent, that they need the Seller to sign ASAP. My first problem is, I'm a busy man, if you have things you need my Seller to sign then please get them to me all at once so I can take care of it and be done with it.
In Florida, we have a pretty comprehensive contract, the FAR/BAR. It has two pages of fine print (the standards) that cover just about everything. Inspections, insurance, liability, default remedies, escrow monies, termites, title, closing costs, time is of the essence etc....Other than a Home owner association disclosure, lead base paint and maybe an addendum with extra terms of the contract, we really don't need any additional paper work. Everything else, in my opinion, is redundant and a waste of time.
Anyway, the offer I received on Friday had this clause typed right on the contract:
- Pursuant to Section 475.42(1)(j) Fla. Stat., Seller and Buyer hereby grant Broker the right to place a lien on the property to ensure payment of services rendered. For purpose of this paragraph, Broker will be treated as a party to this contract.
Now folks, I have to say, I scratched this clause out. There is no way my Seller will be agreeing to this. Am I missing something here? Would you let your Seller agree to something like this? I have a valid listing agreement and I have offered compensation through the MLS. Why do they need to put this clause in the contract? In my opinion it has absolutely nothing to do with the transaction between the Buyer and the Seller.
So my question is....What's up with this? Will corporate reject my contract because we removed their "make sure we get paid" clause? Are your offices burying you in unnecessary forms and disclosures? Is this normal practice in the corporate Real Estate World? Maybe, I just like things too simple and straight forward. What say you?
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