Alabama Real Estate Classes - Online and Classroom
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone that reads this message a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and most prosperous New Year. Enjoy all the blessings life has bestowed upon you and remember those that will go hungry and be sleeping in cold during this Holiday Season. Remember the reason for the season always. May your family be safe in that all they do!
Cheerfully,
James Anderson
Manage Your Risk–Know the Law
It has been less than two weeks since our CE deadline for 2012 and I’m already looking forward to 2014? Yes I am but for different reasons than you think. Real estate agents are the worst procrastinators I’ve seen in all the industries I work with. Alabama law requires only 15-hours of continuing education for each licensee in order to renew a two-year license of which the licensee can complete any time between Oct. 1 of odd year and Sept. 30, of even year; two years later. Agents have a full 24 months to complete their CE requirements but they wait until the last 4-6 months to take their CE and some don’t even meet that deadline. Some have their license placed inactive until they can complete their CE and then pay a fine to re-activate their license. Of the 15-hours required, only 3-hours of Risk Management have been mandatory up until now. All other 12-hours are elective courses; this means the agent selects their courses of choice. Some agents will select courses that are very easy to complete quickly and they may not have any legal or beneficial content at all. For that reason, we now have three separate 3-hour Risk Management classes to fulfill the needs for both sales people and brokers; both of which are required to take a minimum of 6 hours CE in Risk Management. I will break these down and explain them individually. [Read more...]
Contracts Are Legally Enforceable
An attorney, if asked that question, would say, “Before I can answer that question I would have to see the contract and know more about your particular situation.” That sounds like a good response to me, but you can count on his answer costing you $100 or better just for consultation time. I would probably say the same thing but I can’t charge for my answer because I’m not an attorney, and my answer would only be my opinion. Let’s look at some very important facts about contracts.
First a contract, according to contract law, is a legally enforceable agreement to do (or not to do) a specific thing. The key words in this definition are “legally enforceable.” Many of us agree to do or not to do something almost every day but if we don’t stand by our word, we can’t be forced to honor our agreement. Some contracts, in some states can be oral but then it’s one person’s word against that of someone else. Oral agreements are easily disputed and very difficult to enforce. A marriage ceremony is an oral contractual agreement and they are broken every day. So what makes a contract legally enforceable? [Read more...]
Some situations are confusing!
I was asked by a reader to elaborate on a personal situation that exists in the purchase of a home. This is what she wrote; “Hi! I was wondering about a situation that I have going on with the company that sold us our home. I am having a hard time buying insurance because my roof has not been replaced in 26 1/2 years. And this was not disclosed at the time of closing. Can you give me some advice?” As you can see she gave me very few facts to work with but I will write this as a response to her.
I appreciate the fact that you valued our opinion enough to write in seeking a response. First I must disclose that I am not an attorney and do not give legal advice, other than advising you to seek legal counsel from a qualified attorney. I will however, share some Alabama laws and real estate practices that can affect a buyer or seller of real estate in Alabama.
Relationships--A Pleasant Experience
Generally the sales person is only collecting money for goods they have. It requires a minimum amount of trust. With very expensive items such as cars and jewelry, buyers are a little more skeptical and even distrusting. People buying real estate are in many cases, making the largest financial investment in their life. They need help from someone who possesses knowledge of real estate values and can guide them through the process of buying. They want to deal with professional people with integrity, which they can trust. They buy through people they have established a relationship with.
but they all begin with us giving of ourselves. We pass up opportunities every day of our life to begin a relationship with people. It’s either because we don’t want to have a relationship with them, or we fear possible failure in making that first move. We need to understand that the initial move toward a relationship beginning is a simple action. It might be as simple as opening a door for someone, or asking someone for directions to a particular place.
Disclose RECAD & Caveat Emptor in first conversation
an Alabama real estate agent can share with prospective buyers and sellers of real property in Alabama is that Alabama laws are different than most other states. Especially those states adjacent to Alabama because industry standards tend to spread across state lines. Alabama is a “Caveat Emptor” state. This simply means “buyer beware!” To be more precise, Alabama is a modified Caveat Emptor state; because it exempts “New Homes” from Caveat Emptor. New homes are warranted by the builder while secondary (pre-existing) or used homes are not warranted by anyone. The purpose of “Caveat Emptor” is to notify the buyer that it is his responsibility to have the proper inspections performed on a home before they actually close on the sale. The buyer is not to rely on the seller to disclose all imperfections of a property, when making a decision whether to buy or not to buy.
Due to influence of markets in other states, some brokerage firms require their seller to complete a “Sellers Disclosure” form at the point of listing. [Read more...]
Divided We Stand
A few days ago I was watching a training film by a prominent coach in the PGA circuit. He began breaking down the golf game into four major areas that good golfers need to focus on. As I listened to him strategically break down each area, I began to notice the same characteristics for a professional sales career. As a productivity coach in the real estate industry, I have several steps for taking agents from the very beginning to the point of reaching a successful level in sales production. All of those steps can be incorporated into the same four basic divisions he used to describe the game of golf. The more I began to analyze what he was saying, the more I began to see that these divisions apply to life in general. They would be the same areas anyone would need to focus on if they wanted to attain success. Isn’t it strange that we have a tendency to complicate things until someone simplifies it for us? [Read more...]
When is enough, enough?
When it comes to selling real estate there is no standard, acceptable amount of earnest money to accompany an offer. First let’s examine what earnest money is. Earnest money is also referred to as “good faith” money. In other words, it is a payment made by the buyer at the time an offer to purchase is written that demonstrates to the seller, they fully intend to close on the sale of the property. The buyer is saying, “I’m really interested and if I change my mind and decide not to close this transaction, for any reason other than certain contingencies specified within the purchase agreement, I understand I will forfeit my earnest money.” Earnest money, or good faith money, is held in escrow until closing, at which time is applied to the total purchase price.
In Alabama, an offer to purchase is not binding on either party (the buyer nor seller) until the offer has been accepted by the other party. For practical purposes let’s assume the buyer is making an offer to purchase. EXAMPLE; A potential buyer and their agent views a property listed for sale at $225,000. The buyers want to write an offer for $200,000. The agent representing the buyer asks them for $1,000 earnest money. Is this a sufficient amount?
This Is CE Year—What’s That?
CE is an acronym for Continuing Education. You choose the term you want to use for it but don’t forget about it. To a Realtor® CE is of most importance. In Alabama, every licensee that has an active license is required to take a minimum of 15-hour CE during a two year period prior to renewing their real estate license. I’ll explain it for it. In Alabama, real estate agents renew their license every even year; 2010, 2012, 2014, etc. The deadline for license renewal is September 30 every even year. For example; all agents must renew their license by midnight September 30, 2012. If they aren’t renewed, license will automatically be placed inactive by the Alabama Real Estate Commission. Therefore, every active licensee has to complete 15-hours of CE beginning October 1, 2010 and ending midnight September 30, 2012. If this deadline is not met, their license will automatically be placed inactive and can no longer participate in normal real estate practices until certain requirements are met. Do you now see how important CE is?
To confuse the issue just a little more, [Read more...]
Don't be afraid--Be aware
If you understand the title of this blog, chances are you are in a real estate related business. When buying real estate in Alabama the words “Caveat Emptor” is of utmost importance. Let’s take a look at the meaning of the term and how it affects Alabama real estate buyers.
Caveat emptor (ˌkæviːɑːt ˈɛmptɔr) is Latin for “Let the buyer beware.”Generally, caveat emptor is the property law doctrine that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing. Under the doctrine of caveat emptor, the buyer could not recover from the seller for defects on the property that rendered the property unfit for ordinary purposes. The only exception was if the seller actively concealed latent defects or otherwise made material misrepresentations amounting to fraud.
Before statutory law, the buyer had no warranty of the quality of goods. In many jurisdictions now, the law requires that goods must be of “merchantable quality.” However, this implied warranty can be difficult to enforce and may not apply to all products. Hence, buyers are still advised to be cautious.
Not all states are Caveat Emptor states. [Read more...]