Real Estate & Land Use

Home Inspection Contingency Periods
The buyers entered an agreement to purchase a property with an external insulation finish system known as Dryvit. Upon inspection of the Dryvit, the report noted a few areas that were suspect for some moisture infiltration. The buyers decided to submit a corrective proposal asking the sellers to engage a specialist to conduct a “further evaluation” of the Dryvit and to undertake any “necessary repairs.” After being disappointed with specialist’s report of the Dryvit, the buyers decided to terminate the Agreement of Sale outside of the contingency period.

I was helping an old friend of mine’s son and daughter-in-law with their home purchase. The house that most caught their fancy, and the one they eventually purchased, was a flip. Now, I have a lot to say about flipped houses, primarily based upon the volume of litigation that I have handled arising from the purchase of flipped homes. For purposes of this story, let me just say that I was very concerned that my friend’s son and daughter-in-law would later regret their purchase or have serious problems. And so, I embark on my mission, full of advice.

In those good ole days of real estate transactions, offers were also accompanied by deposit checks. There was no place on the standard agreement to accommodate today’s practice of transmitting deposits “within ___ days (5 if not specified) from execution.” It is evident from the many inquiries on this topic, that today’s practice leaves sellers vulnerable, for at least those first days. To protect sellers, the realtor practice of accepting offers, with a deposit, constitutes the sole remedy available to a seller in the event of buyer default.