Posted by Russ, IL on February 26, 1999 at 06:49:27:
I used the Sheets contract last year for my very first investment property. If you follow the chapter on writing the contract you shouldn’t need an attorney to write it up. I just added an attorney approval rider with the contract that gave 10 bussiness days from the day of acceptance for the attorneys to make changes or point out any problems. This could save you a littel money since you won’t need an attorney’s services unless your offer gets accepted. This is usually known as the attorney approval period. I hope this answers your question. Good Luck.
Russ
Posted by Patricia on February 26, 1999 at 06:28:14:
Can anyone tell me if Carlton Sheets contracts will be good enough for a newbie like myself to use or start with in flipping? I plan to enlist the services of a attorney to look at the contract and add or delete the necessary information that I feel that I will need to make my contracts look appealing. What are the things I should make sure to have added in the contract so that it is in my best interest and keeps me out of trouble, and what is the going rate to have these types of contracts drawn up. Any answers will be appreciated.
Posted by JPiper on February 27, 1999 at 11:12:06:
I use the local Realtors contracts. Why?? Because everyone is familiar with them, they comply with local laws, and they change to bring them into compliance with local or federal law changes. I wouldn’t personally dream of using a Carlton Sheets contract.
However…I do modify the local contract through the use of an addendum depending on the nature of the particular transaction. If I were you I would use the services of an attorney to help create an addendum to be used with the standard Realtor contract, an addendum which would remove the clauses in your local contract that would be detrimental to you as a buyer. Perhaps you could show him/her the Sheets contract for some ideas on clauses that might be helpful.
You know, having an attorney help you draft your agreement can save you headaches after the fact and if you write any number of offers, it’s cheap professional advice on a per/unit basis. An attorney will help you from being too cute in the weasel department too, the contract has to pass muster if it ever gets in front of a judge.
That said, I use my own contract with Realtors a lot and most never give a second look (yes I do run in to an occasional “by the book” agent and I have to use the local customary forms, for which I have an adendum) … the reason my contract gets accepted is that for a cash deal it basically says: I agree to buy, you agree to sell, this is the price and this is when we close. All that gets said in about 1/2 a page (letter size) … there is attorney approval, inspection and a couple other things, but basically that’s it. Now if we get into seller financing in any meaningful way, the contract gets a little longer;), but the fact is most of those offers don’t go through Realtors and the local standard contacts don’t address that anyway.
Bottom line steal from everywhere, get an attorney’s help, but don’t be too cute.
Posted by Russ Sims on February 26, 1999 at 13:10:43:
If you’re dealing with a listing agent, chances are they will want to use their own contract. In this case you simply follow Sheet’s advice and add the things to it that the Sheet’s contract has to protect you. I had to do this on my first deal not long ago and I’m kind of glad I did because the contract used in my state has a bunch of garbage that my state requires. I wouldn’t have known to ad this to the Sheet’s contract.
I did check into have an attorney customize a contract and it would have run between $300 and $500. Not sure if this is standard but it’s probably worth it given the frequency with which we hope to use these things.