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Every trade, industry, and profession has its
particular way of doing things and real estate is no
exception. Rather than reinvent the wheel with every
transaction, brokers, agents, and lawyers tend to work from a
basic set of assumptions that are contained in uniform
documents.
In theory and in practice there is something
to be said for standardized forms. They save time,
they’re efficient, and offers prepared with uniform
documents are easy to compare and evaluate. But for all
their value, standardized forms camouflage a significant
number of problems.
First, all real estate transactions are
one-of-a-kind events: they involve people with different
and opposing interests, unique properties, different
jurisdictions, and economic conditions that are always in
transition. Trying to fit those these diverse interests
into a single, standardized contract form makes no more sense
than requiring everyone in town to wear size 10 shoes.
Second, standardized forms have evolved into a
kind of social and economic bludgeon. Buyers and
sellers are told that “everybody” uses one form, that a
particular document is “our standard agreement,” and
“all the points you’ve raised are in the contract.”
Such assertions are uncontested, not because
they’re right or wrong, but because it’s impolite to
argue. Our social training encourages us to be courteous
and the result is that the need for personal acceptance
dampens our drive for a good deal.
Third, the very idea of “standard” implies
certain values. After all, if something is standard, are
not alternate approaches “unstandard” or perhaps
substandard? The answer in brief is “No.” The
real issue concerns not what is “standard” but what is
appropriate in a given transaction. If a standardized
form works, fine. But if it needs to be modified
that’s okay too.
Fourth, in the current marketing system
standardized forms are treated with an awe and reverence
usually reserved for sacred objects. They’re so
“official” that all too often buyers and sellers believe
such forms are also untouchable. Yet no matter how
imposing a form may look, it’s just a piece of paper,
something that can be modified or amended at any point before
both buyer and seller sign the document and close the deal.
Fifth, by signing standardized forms, buyers
and sellers often bind themselves to a lengthy list of
understandings and accommodations that have not been
negotiated. For example, a form might divide the payment
of realty sales taxes equally between buyer and seller even
though such payments are totally negotiable. As a
result, buyers and sellers may haggle over prices and terms
for hours and then give up hundreds or perhaps thousands of
dollars without any discussion, bargaining, or concessions,
merely because of an obscure clause buried in the middle of a
from document.
This Homebuyers Tip was
excerpted from:
Successful Real Estate Negotiation by
Peter G. Miller and Douglas M. Bregman, HarperCollins
Publishers, Inc., 1994
ISBN # 0062732641
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