Three Legal Tips for a Fast-Paced Real Estate Market By Curtis Bullock
1. Don’t DIY Your Home Sale I’ve seen this so many times and yet again this morning I read another case about a person who attempted to sell her home without the assistance of an experienced professional. The person was convinced they would save money doing it on their own. It ended up causing heartache, time, money and it could have easily been avoided. There was a lot more to it, but here is a brief summary of what happened. The home for sale by owner had solar panels installed on the roof. The solar panels were leased and required monthly payments to be made to the solar panel company. When a buyer became interested in the home, the seller was not familiar with the various
24 | Salt Lake Realtor ÂŽ | November 2020
legal aspects of the real estate purchase contract and how to coordinate the sale of the property with the assumption of the solar panel lease. Certain documents in the purchase contract were not included and ended up creating confusion for the buyer on what was expected regarding the solar panel lease and whether he was responsible to take over those payments. In the end, a dispute arose, litigation was threatened, and a settlement of several thousand dollars was offered. Eventually the transaction failed to close. I continue to see this sort of thing happen again and again. While the real estate market may be hot, there is a mountain of technical and legal information to be aware of when selling or purchasing a home. The best solution is to
