The “I Decline to Initial” Buyer’s Initial
Form: “Agency Relationships in Real Estate Transactions”
Date signed by Buyer: June 22, 2017
Form: Purchase Agreement
Date signed by Buyer: June 22, 2017
What’s wrong with this picture?
It runs afoul of Minnesota Department of Commerce guidelines, which provide that prospective Buyers’ agents are supposed to discuss the different kinds of Agency Relationships that are possible between Realtors and their clients, at the point the “first substantive contact” occurs.
In practice, that’s defined to mean when the prospective client first discusses their price, terms, or motivation.
You Want Me to Sign What??
Common sense suggests that that happens more than 10 minutes before the Buyer asks the agent to help them draft a Purchase Agreement.
The catch for agents is that many prospective clients balk at signing anything early in the relationship.
In that case, savvy agents elicit the client’s initials to the effect that they declined to sign, or — failing that — the agent documents for their file that they were unable to get the Buyer’s acknowledgement.
See also, “Licensees, Principals, Subagents & Brokers (Oh, my!)”; and “Delivering the Realtor “Miranda Warning” in an Online World“
