Due diligence and “do-or-die” features
Attorney Richard D. Vetstein. covered the legal issues of the second-hand smoking case.
Today, I want to look at the agent issues. The crux of the matter, to me as an agent, is the question of due diligence. What’s that: simple, it’s watching out for things that can make a material impact on the buyer’s enjoyment of the property. How to do it isn’t so simple…
As an agent, I am responsible for figuring that out what is important for my client. That’s part of the art of a good agent. Instead of studying mind reading, I figured out how to ask the right questions.
The more restrictions someone puts on a search, the fewer choices he/she will have. So, I ask for the “do-or-die” requirements first. Most “do-or-die” requirements are pretty obvious, and buyers will tell them to me right away. How many bedrooms, baths, storage in the kitchen, yard big enough for a dog and children’s things…It is after that initial list where things can get too vague if I don’t ask the right questions.
“Do or dies” include anything that will make the new owner sick or inhibit their life significantly. This includes a smoke-free building for the plaintiff of this case. If her respiratory system is that sensitive to it, she needs to be in a non-smoking building. It is not reasonable for a person to buy in a building where the other residents could be a non-smoker today, but sell to a chain smoker a month after she closed. If she were working with me, it would have been up to her to specifically direct me to show her anything that wasn’t a smoke-free building. I might have found myself working with her for a year -- and seeing only ten properties total. So be it.
Common condo “do or dies” include covenants that restrict or allow pets, places with guest parking in towns with no overnight street parking, and in-unit laundry.
For some, getting a single family home is a “do-or-die” because condo life would make them miserable.
Here are some “do-or-dies” that are not obvious to many first-time home buyers:
People with any severe allergy need to avoid the allergen while house-hunting. They may not be able to buy a house that can’t be fully cleaned of the allergen. (I have had clients who required I call ahead about what animals lived in the house because cats gave her instant asthma.)
Land along waterways has additional building restrictions. If a “do-or-die” includes adding a play-house for the children, that house on the creek may not work.
Many, many places have local zoning that will limit the “hypothetical addition” that is a “do-or-die.”
What’s on your “do-or-die” list?
