local real estate news, statistics, and commentary without the sales spin.
I have a limited number of free passes to an early screening of the upcoming movie “The Big Short,” and I’d like to invite some Seattle Bubble readers to join me. The movie doesn’t hit theaters until December 23, but this screening is at 4:00 PM next Monday, November 23rd in downtown Seattle.
If you’d like to join me, just leave a comment here…
Local alternative brokerage Surefield added another slick new tool to their arsenal this week: A map-based home pricing tool that they are calling Pricepoint. Together with their flagship 3D home tour technology (previously spotlighted here), this new offering strengthens Surefield’s focus on home sellers.
The tool offers an interactive, transparent alternative to Zillow’s black box “Zestimates,” and is touted by Surefield as “the most accurate and reliable way to price a home.”
The statewide financing contingency form, Form 22A, present parties with some serious issues to consider. Prior pieces addressed seller and buyer concerns, but Form 22A also presents brokers with serious issues to consider.
The most complex issues for listing brokers may involve the seller’s decision to send a request to the buyer to waive their financing contingency using Form 22AR. Some attorneys believe that a seller’s request for waiver should frequently be sent simply because the waiver of the financing contingency would benefit the seller. In contrast, I would note that in practice I have seldom seen Form 22AR sent, either by my listing clients or sellers when I represent buyers. That calls into question why there is a difference between what some lawyers in Washington think should be done, and what actually occurs…
As discussed in the prior piece on Form 22A, the statewide financing contingency form in many ways heavily favors the interests of buyers. That is because absent drafting custom language, the financing contingency can remain as a buyer protection though the date of closing. After the passage of a specified period of time the seller can ask the buyer to waive the contingency, but the seller cannot force the buyer to do so. Therefore if a buyer cannot get financing, and their offer contains a non-waived Form 22A financing contingency, then the buyer will not be in breach of contract if they cannot close due to lack of financing…
Most offers written within the Northwest Multiple Listing Service area use what are referred to as the “statewide forms,” a collection of real estate forms which can be selected and completed by real estate brokers and others. While some attorneys might argue those are not the best forms, they are in general well balanced between the interests of buyers and sellers, and serve the parties well. In contrast, there is one form, the Form 22A financing contingency, which some argue heavily favors the interests of buyers, and which I would argue is poorly drafted…