Buyers -- Put It In Writing

I am obligated, unless notified in writing by the seller, to present all offers and therefore if an agent representing a buyer calls me and states their buyer would like to make a verbal offer I will take the offer and present it to my seller.

When I do this I tell my seller upfront this is a verbal offer and if they choose to accept it the offer will be written. Anytime I have received a verbal offer it usually consists of two points; the price being offered and the approximate closing date.

I fail to understand why this would be the means to present an offer. The FARBAR contract, which is the standard contract used by REALTORS® in the State of Florida is four pages. The price and closing date are two of the many blanks. In my opinion price and closing date are extremely important, but of equal value are repair amounts, inspection periods, financing conditions and good faith or escrow deposits.

For instance, say the buyer’s agent states they want to offer $100,000 and close in two weeks. This is the verbal offer. There are no other details given even after I ask if there are any special considerations. I present it to my seller and they agree to accept the offer. I call the buyer’s agent and the agent puts the offer in writing. When I receive the written offer I discover the buyer has put down $500 in good faith, wants a ten day inspection period, needs to close on their home which is under contract and set to close two days before the specified closing, and wants the seller to pay up to $1,000 in repairs.

Suddenly a verbal offer which sounded really good has too many pitfalls and the seller who was excited about selling their home has to consider the offer in a whole new light. Now if the buyer’s agent had let me know about the additional details then I could have advised my sellers appropriately at the outset.

I honestly believe the buyer’s agent is acting in good faith when he/she conveys the verbal offer but if I were to have a buyer who was interested in making a verbal offer I would ask them to provide as many details as possible. I understand a buyer’s desire to approach a seller with an offer verbally at first in order to get a feel for the seller’s motivation. However I do not understand why a buyer would not give concise details that affect the ability to reach the closing table.

There have been times when a buyer I was working with has requested I make a verbal offer. When this request is made I pull out a blank FARBAR contract and go over it in detail. I do this so the buyer understands more goes into an offer than the price. At this time I also find out if the buyer has any special contingencies that might affect the seller’s desire to accept the offer. I am then able to contact the seller’s agent with a verbal offer which has some meat to it so if the seller agrees there are no surprises when that written offer is presented.

In my opinion verbal offers leave too much room for misunderstandings. I say if you are serious about making an offer, put it in writing.