The Offer and Acceptance

I'm amazed at how many people sign an offer from a buyer without first getting legal advice. The Realtors and real estate agents can't give you legal advice and hand holding only goes so far. So what should a seller of a home do when presented with an offer to buy their home?

• First, you should not feel compelled to meet a short deadline written into the offer. That is foolish and it's better to let the buyer find another home than to allow yourself to be forced to respond to an offer to purchase within a short period of time, say the next 24 hours. Recently sellers have been forced to pay thousands of dollars in buyer legal fees because of problems with incomplete seller disclosure statements. Don't be fooled by someone telling you to just sign the offer. That's a trap!
• Second, you need to talk with an attorney who has reviewed the Offer and Acceptance.
• Third, it is not uncommon for there to be provisions in that Offer and Acceptance that can and should be crossed out and not included. Not everything contained in an Offer and Acceptance is in the sellers best interest. Just because the buyers include certain paragraphs doesn't mean you have to agree to them.
• Fourth, there is a right and a wrong way to eliminate problematic provisions.
• Fifth, your real estate agent is not a lawyer, will not, can not and should not be providing legal advice. If they are they are violating the law by practicing law without a license.

Call us for a quick review. We will review it with you for $250.00 paid by credit card.

Steve Lombardi
The Lombardi Law Firm and Lombardi Commercial Real Estate Services
1300 - 37th Street, Suite 6
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266

Telephone: 515-222-1110
Fax: 515-222-0718

Email: sdlombardi@aol.com