According to the contract “Time is of the Essence”. Now, whether you use the “As-Is” or the “Standard” contract the provision for “Time is of the Essence” is the same. So, what does it mean? It means that the contract calls for specific dates to perform the actions in the contract or there could be consequences. When I say specific, I mean “drop dead dates”!
For instance, if the closing date states November 1, then that is when the closing happens. Yes, even if you put “on or before” in front of the date! If you put “on or before” in front of the date, you still need both buyer and seller signatures to move it up! You are falsely setting the customers up for disappointment by allowing them to think that it may be moved up, because it needs both parties to agree in writing to do so. It should not be moved up verbally. All things must be in writing to be enforceable according to the Statute of Frauds. So, don’t bother to put “on or before” in the contact because it is meaningless. Just use specific dates.
If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.
Make good choices. See you next time!
According to the Florida Realtors/Florida BAR contract the “effective date” is the last date that the buyer and seller has initialed or signed the contract and returned the contract back to the offeror.
Now, how is this date determined?
Let’s say that the buyer wrote an offer on the 5th and sent it to the seller. The seller signed the offer on the 7th and returned the offer to the buyer on the 10th. The 10th is now the effective date. But where does it say that on the contract? You know that date is important because many of the provisions, for instance inspections, use that date as a starting date.
You see, it’s up to the buyer, in my example, to write an e-mail to the seller’s associate and designate the 10th as the effective date. Nowhere on the contract is the date the 10th written, so an e-mail establishing the date is important! Make sure you do this to avoid any confusion regarding other dates in the contract.
If you would like more information contact me.
I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.