Due Diligence - What say ye? Like it or not?

Hey Tony!  I don't like it at all!  I am hearing from all over Atlanta from full time agents like myself that buyers are walking away during the due diligence period.  Buyers are a rare commodity right now!  When they walk, they are not coming back to do another deal!  I also fully understand that buyers have that right to walk.   I had two calls today alone from agents whose deal fizzled when their buyers decided not to move foreword.  Due diligence?  Face the facts, residential real estate is not commercial real estate. The relocating buyer from Omaha wants to buy a home and have it inspected rather than do a due diligence fiasco!  I don't think it was a wise thing to change given current market conditions.  Very poor decision, and very foolish!  The contract doesn't bother me it is the timing of the release could not be worse in a market that has flat-lined.  It  is causing more confusion at a time when the availability of financing is in meltdown, inventory is at an all time high, and sales are at an all time low. 

This is how our MLS contracts have been for a while now. The rewrite that included a 10 day Due Diligence period that allows Buyers to walk for any reason for 10 days has been in place for a few months. But our Inspection clause was basically the same, and has been like that for years.

I think it is fine. If the deal is going to fall apart, I would much rather have it fail in the first few days than day 28. And it does put the Buyer on notice that they really do have to be responsible for deciding if the house is really for them and if they are truly committed.

How long is the DD period? Here in Maryland (a big Buyer agency state) If a home is in a HOA the buyers can walk up to seven days after receiving the HOA documents.  If they are not provided in a timely manner a deal could fall apart right up till the end.

I guess I'll be the one to play devil's advocate and in terms of looking at it from the Buyer's perspective, also it's early in the morning and maybe I'm still glazed but:

It occurs to me that we should look at it from the buyer's point of view and not from a Realtor's point of view.  I agree that it makes life even more difficult for the Realtor, but if we are representing a Buyer and we truly have the Buyer's best interest above our own, then this should demonstrate that to the buyer and also puts more responsibility on the buyer to more closely examine and evaluate the risks affecting their transaction.  I would hope this would protect the Realtor in the long run from frivolous lawsuits brought forth by an unhappy buyer after the fact (as the case in California right now).  I agree with Sarah, I would rather have the deal fall apart upfront than just before closing or worse, at the closing table. 

Realtors work hard for the money even though some consumers don't agree.  In this challenging business cycle that we are currently in, simply means Realtors work even harder but the key to me is to put our client's best interest above everyone else including ourselves.  Now, that works great for the buyer and I do understand what a dilemma it presents for the seller but the seller needs to have all their ducks in a row before trying to sell a property.  Another words, the seller should do all they need to do to make their home marketable in a way that buyer's won't need to walk away. 

From what I am hearing is that striking a paragraph is actually practicing law.  The attorneys giving the courses are advising us not to!  They do not want us to do that.  The way I see it, this was one of the worse revisions of the GAR contract I've ever seen...and it is an attempt that all parties of the deal will have to have legal representation at some point...just like we had in NY..  It will also diminish the importance of the real estate agent in the deal, and that will also have its own consequences.