Who Drafts The Offer To Purchase In A Private Home Sale?

When you are selling your home without the services of a traditional real estate agent one of the big looming questions is "Who will write up my offer to purchase?" (also called the purchase and sale agreement)

As a Private Sale Professional, I get asked this question everyday.

The true DIY person will simply Google "Offer to Purchase" and download a form. I am of the belief that most people should not be completing legal contracts for what is typically their largest financial asset. I believe that we sure can negotiate the specifics that will make up that contract, but to enter into it before a lawyer has had a chance to review it is not in either parties best interest!

This is where the PropertyGuys.com Offer Maker and Legal Pro program come into place. Most lawyers are going to charge you upwards of $250 to draft an offer to purchase. Working as either a buyer OR seller with PropertyGuys.com our Legal Pro team will work with you 7 days a week to review any offers, draft your purchase and sale agreement, advise on anything an agent has brought you asking for a signature, or simply answer any questions relating to the legal aspect of buying or selling a home.

You can get a Legal Pro or you can call Saul, your choice.



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Can You Spot The Fraud?

Con Artists come in all sorts of different packages.

A recent article in the Waterloo Region Record talked about a real estate scam on the internet. Without a doubt it is important to do some due diligence when making any purchases online. To just send money to a classified ad on a Kijiji or Craig's List seems a little preposterous.

Internet classifieds are no different than that of the traditional print media. People place ads with little or no scrutinizing. It is generally up to the people responding to the ad to verify the merit of the ad and the person placing it. With the advent of free online classifieds people are now able to place ads from anywhere in the world for free with no one policing them at the outset. Set up an email address, place an alluring ad from Nigeria, wait for your fish to swim into the net.

Given the value of the purchase, when you are shopping for a house it seems a little odd to do the entire transaction online without ever seeing the property or meeting the seller. House selling was not really intended to be done this way.

The internet is a powerful and essential tool. One thing it doesn't do is take away the human interaction needed in the real estate transaction. When you buy a car you want to take it for a test drive. When you buy a loaf of bread you squeeze it for freshness. When you buy a water melon you tap it for firmness. Why wouldn't you walk through a $250,000 house before sending money?

Remember that if you have limited information on the seller, like just an email address, it should send up a red flag. Name, address, phone number are essential (hard to buy a house without an address, right?). Visit the home, walk through it, talk to the neighbours. Of course it is always recommended to have things looked over by your lawyer and any money in the transaction should be handled in-trust through your lawyer to ensure you have some protection.

Don't be to sure about anything. It appears even MLS listings have fallen prey to this type of scam...


Hopefully you are reading this post before you send a $5,000 wire transfer to houseseller54@aol.com so you can have a chance to see their amazing house before they put it on the market for $80,000 more.

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A Little Q & A

You ask and I answer!

My last post seemed to drum up some discussion and it got me thinking. What others topics are out there that people might want some answers to? If you have something that is a burning issue or that you can't get a straight answer to, drop me a line. This blog thing might as well be interactive, right?

Here is a question and answer dialogue that might have taken place on a typical website:

Q. We recently attempted to put an offer on a house with the condition that ours sells. The agent that has the house listed has informed us that we NEED to first list our own home with an agent before our offer could be considered – is this true?

A. This is definitely not true. Private sale has grown both in comfort level and popularity as the internet has gained momentum - and is now considered a mainstream alternative to traditional agents. It’s estimated that 25% of sellers are now choosing private sale and if 1 in 4 are trying it and experiencing the same success rates as those with agents then it cannot be denied as a credible strategy for selling. In fact, in many circumstances private sale has proven to be more effective than traditional because the seller’s asking price has not been inflated to pay commission. This allows the seller to price closer to what people are willing to pay, and therefore increases the likely hood of selling. The best defense against this type of scenario would be for you to go knock on the front door, and make the offer in person. The home seller can then decide if they want to consider the offer or not.

This is a pretty straight forward answer to the question. I try to lay things out with as much clarity as possible. In my opinion this type of action is morally and ethically wrong. As a Canadian citizen you have the right to sell your home how you please and you should not have anyone putting undue pressure on you in order to line their pockets. Your offer as a private seller is as good as that from an agent. In fact it has potential to be better! Without the high cost of commissions you can be more aggressive with your price which attracts more buyers. If this circumstance were to happen to you I would suggest that you advise the agent that the offer is conditional and they will have every right to continue to offer the home for sale. Any better offers will end up bumping yours in most cases so what's to loose?

We have seen many instances of this locally. If you or anyone you know has fallen victim to this type of deception by an agent let me know. Collectively your voice is louder and we will help you stop this from happening to someone else.

Here is a guy that should have used his phone a friend to call a Private Sale Professional.


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Legal Pitfalls?

I'll bet you thought it.

Maybe you've just felt that knot in your stomach.

Here you are thinking of selling your house and wondering how will you get through the process without an agent. They are commonly heard spouting how they protect you from "legal pitfalls".

Last I checked a licensed agent was just that. They have not been to law school. Neither have you. Your lawyer has.

In any real estate transaction your lawyer is there to work on your behalf. They are the ones there to question the contract and ensure that your rights are covered. With that said when you are negotiating the sale you should never sign a contract with a buyer (or seller if you are buying) without first having it reviewed by your lawyer.

Negotiate, YES. Agree on price, conditions, inclusions and closings dates, YES. Write it all down on your Offer Maker, YES. Sign an Offer to Purchase, NOT UNTIL YOU ASK YOUR LAWYER!

Even the agent in this cheesy video thinks it's best!!!



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