Real Estate Contracts and Countering in Arizona

Real Estate Contracts and Countering in Arizona

Here is a good one for all the expert Reatlor's.  A true story.  The other day a Buyers Agent was showing a nice home to his clients.  They decided they wanted it.  Now the fun begins.  The contract was written using the Arizona Zip Forms sytem and now the games begin.  How would this system of Real Estate Contracts and Countering work for these "highly trained" professionals?  Well... frustrating is a mild word.

The offer was sent out with the usual expectation that a counter would be returned, because it was not a full price offer.  Seems simple enough.  Or so we thought.  The Counter #1 shows up at 9:02 PM by email.  When it was reviewed, the first thing that was noticed was it expired at 9:00 PM that day.  So... it was'nt even valid!  We thought, was this person new, slow, or just didn't care?  We looked at the credentials on the email.  Oh my!  An Associate Broker?  But... the buyers worked with just a Realtor.  That should be a new Realtor's mistake!

Off to the buyers with Counter #1 to explain it.  Now we have Counter #2, which needed to include what the buyers wanted to accept, as well as ask that Counter #1 be extended!  Counter #2 should do it, the buyers were told.  We should have this wrapped up today.  We will give them 24 hrs to respond.  We did, and they did, respond that is with the Acceptance.  Yesssss!  The deal was done.  Wait, not so fast, another problem.  Can't be, this is a Broker!  They are not new to this...

Looking closely at Counter #2 we noticed, new language was added to the counter, above the buyer's signature! Then the sellers signed to accept.  Was that correct??  Could they do that?  No way!  I won't allow it.  They just made the contract "voidable".  They added language that the buyer never agreed to into the contract.  This needed to be Counter #3, not an acceptance.  The BUYER would have to accept, not the SELLER.  Who was guiding these sellers, a rookie? No... it was a BROKER!  Ughhh.  Now what?  How do you address this?  Call the agent, no response.  Email the agent, no response.  What next?  Frustration.  

Did I mention, the contract is for $78,000!  W knew this would be more work than the $600,000 Short Sale!

What's my point.  To all of you in Arizona.  Take the time to think about your actions.  Whether you are new or seasoned to the business, watch what you do.  Don't give us all a bad name!  Sometimes, however, I think we earn it.  We are one of the only States that allow Realtor's to write contracts.  Take it seriously!