THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502020288
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
A reader called recently with a question about an offer she'd made on a house. The offer was submitted over two weeks before and there had been no word from the seller.
``We want an answer,'' said the would-be buyer. ``Is there any time limit on how long a seller can take to respond?''
The short answer is no, there's no limit unless the buyer imposes one. But the issue is more complex than that.
Any offer to purchase - or counteroffer - can be withdrawn at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all, before it is accepted. Offerors (parties making the offers or counteroffers) who get tired of waiting for offerees (those who must accept or reject the offers) to make up their minds may call it quits and shop elsewhere.
The reader was surprised to learn that the standard ``Offer to Purchase and Contract'' in North Carolina does not contain a provision setting a deadline for acceptance.
Some states do, some states don't, said Ann Murray with the National Association of Realtors in Washington, D.C. ``We don't track that sort of thing.''
North Carolina's standard contract form is jointly approved for use by the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Association of Realtors and is based on guidelines provided by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.
Tom Miller, head of the Real Estate Commission's legal staff, offered this explanation for the North Carolina form: ``My guess is that more often than not a deadline just wouldn't suit the parties involved. They don't want an offer to die because of a date.''
``The idea for the standard form is that it's a thoughtful document taking into account usual circumstances,'' said Miller. And, in most cases, the buyer and seller would want to be flexible. ``When special circumstances exist, the buyer can always insert a deadline into the offer,'' he said.
It should be noted that under North Carolina law, real estate agents are prohibited from drafting contracts. Agents use the standard form with its pick-and-choose menu of ``standard provisions,'' adding simple contingencies such as buyers obtaining specific financing, selling current residences - or imposing deadlines for accepting offers.
Local agents say adding deadlines isn't customary. Sharon Pro, an associate broker with Twenty-Twenty Realty in Manteo, says that deadlines haven't been a problem for her and only a few customers have requested them.
In most cases, says Pro, sellers are as eager as buyers to consummate the deal and they respond promptly.
John Myers, who has sold real estate on the Outer Banks for 14 years and currently serves as president of the Outer Banks Association of Realtors, cautions against deadlines.
A deadline puts ``too much pressure on the seller,'' says Myers. ``I encourage people to see how it goes.'' Like Pro, he has run into few instances where acceptance deadlines are needed, these usually being cases where sellers were juggling multiple offers or waiting for better offers.
Agents working for sellers, quite properly, don't want their clients put in defensive positions. But when working as a buyer's agent, says Myers, he has no problem delivering an ultimatum if sellers drag their feet: Respond or the offer will be withdrawn.
According to the state Real Estate Commission, one of the most misunderstood points of real estate practice is that offers to purchase are revocable. Even when a buyer adds a deadline for the seller's acceptance of an offer, the buyer is not obligated to keep the offer open through the deadline.
Offers are revocable only until legally accepted - and that's another point of misunderstanding.
Legal acceptance of an offer to purchase requires two things, Miller pointed out: the offeree's signature and notifying the offeror or the offeror's legal agent.
In the traditional real estate transaction whereby all agents work for the seller, a seller's acceptance of a buyer's offer isn't legally binding until communicated directly to the buyer.
While all contracts for the sale or conveyance of real estate are required by North Carolina General Statute to be in writing, notification of an offer's acceptance can be oral or written.
If an acceptance is mailed to the offeror, notification occurs when the envelope is postmarked. When acceptance is faxed or sent by electronic mail, notification occurs when received by the offeror's communication device.
Another point to remember about offers is that any change to an offer (whether it be a change to the original offer to purchase or to a counteroffer) constitutes a new counteroffer.
Counteroffers, for legal purposes, are new beginnings. Nothing carries over from the original offer including deadlines. Each counteroffer is treated as a new and separate offer; whether the offeror is the buyer or the seller is immaterial. MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959.
by CNB