An experienced Real Estate Broker should have the skill sets and the ability to guide, negotiate and write a good legal contract for the person they represent. The realtor should provide a legal review clause and due diligence period in a contract. A reasonable period for a legal review is 7-10 days. If the realtor is not skilled at negotiating but can write a smart contract, this will suffice but may not be a great service to a client. The most troubling scenario is a Realtor who guides you to the property and has little or no skill-sets to negotiate or write a contract. This is usually the case when a deal goes bad because of a poor contract. If the buyer and seller want the deal to happen, it usually works out but can create tension at the closing.
A buyer or seller may also select poor legal representation or listen to other poor advisors including relatives, neighbors or third party sources. A few years back we got to a closing of an exclusive property and one of the Title Company representatives told the buyer he was over paying for a property. The buyer was a bit stressed because of the amount of the deal and this one comment was taken very seriously and the buyer would not sign the paperwork. The Realtor had to re-sell the deal again at closing and the property finally did close after the buyer left the table. The property was purchased for $820,000 and is now worth well over 2 million dollars today.
Lawyers can sometimes kill a deal by trying to over protect the party they represent. Sometimes it is a good idea to step back to see if your legal team can figure out what the lawyer wants for his or her client on the other side of the table. Lawyers are sometimes just looking for a reason to rack up a big legal bill over trivia legal wrangling but can cost both buyers and sellers a lot of money.
Two lawyers that bicker too much instead of negotiate reasonably can quickly take a deal to extremes. Your Realtor may know in advance which lawyers do not work well together and may prevent this unfortunate situation from happening in the first place. Specific language in a Real Estate contract, deed or title insurance clause may be ambiguous or allow one party to have too many escape clauses leaving the other party in the contract no options or recourse. All seller financed deals including mortgages and notes should have a careful review by the buyer's attorney if prepared by the seller's attorney. Other language may be in a grey area and have very little importance.
Seek guidance from the Broker and then direct your team of Professionals as a buyer or seller.
If the buyer or seller is too passive with their lawyer or Realtor and is not willing to be flexible and negotiate reasonably when in a stalemate position, the deal may get stalled or die quickly. This too is a shame and should be avoided if possible. Buyers should not get emotionally attached to a property and be willing to walk away from deals if there is too much risk to move forward under the terms and conditions being negotiated. You may find that after a dispute over terms has cooled off, a much better deal may be reached with a similar offer.
A seller is usually the loser in a situation where it is a buyer's market and a good offer was lost in poor negotiations. Many deals come back several months later at much lower purchase prices from the same buyer when the market is in favor of the buyer.
A buyer can sometimes be the loser in a seller's market and may have to pay a higher price later for a comparable property or the same one. Be aware of which market you are involved in. Jackson Hole Real Estate is so unique that a property like the one you are bidding on may not become available for quite some time. Your Broker or Real Estate Agent can keep you informed on these market conditions or bookmark the Jackson Hole Realty News to stay informed.
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