Another Place to Download Clean Copy of the New Regional Sales Contract

There is a site that posts a clean copy of the New Regional Sales Contract.

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Return Receipt Requested: USPS - Track & Confirm - Put our delivery information to work for you

Wonder what we mean by "return receipt requested" in the Delivery section of the New Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum? Here is some great information about tracking and confirmation options available with U.S. Mail. You can now get electronic return receipts.

Keep in mind that delivery is deemed to have occurred on the day the item is delivered by the postal service, not the day it is put in the mailbox and not the day is signed for. The receipt you get should show the day it was delivered as well as the day the receipt was signed!

Still have questions? Post them as a comment and I will try and answer them.

USPS - Track & Confirm - Put our delivery information to work for you

New Regional Sales Contract - Changes Highlighted in Color - Download Now

Here is a copy of the entire contract with the changes highlighted in color for you to download. Please note that this is labeled as an educational sample, and should not be used in an actual transaction.

Color Contract

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Delivery and the New Regional Sales Contract in Virginia

Don't be confused by what some members of the Regional Sales Contract Task Force might be teaching about the rules governing Delivery of addenda and notices. Keep in mind, the Delivery paragraph is in the Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum, which the task force had no role in writing.

The first sentence of the first paragraph of the Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum reads:

"Delivery methods may include hand-carried, sent by professional courier service, by United States Mail, by facsimile or by e-mail transmission. "

It is still perfectly acceptable to deliver things by FAX, provided that the buyer or seller, as the case may be, has provided you with a Fax number in paragraph 1B of the Va. Jurisdictional Addendum.

What seems to have confused some of the folks on the Regional Sales Contract Task Force is that notices and addenda sent via FAX aren't deemed delivered for the purpose of calculating time periods, until the day they are acknowledged in writing by the recipient. All that we meant to accomplish with this requirement was to prevent unscrupulous buyers or sellers from faxing a notice to an empty office building on a Friday evening to start time periods running early.

If you want to continue to use fax this contract requires to you to take steps that most of us consider common courtesy -- call before faxing to make sure someone will be there to pick up your fax, call after faxing to make sure all of the pages went through without sticking together or before the fax machine ran out of paper, and then have them fax you back a note agreeing they receive the entire contents of your Fax.

The only time you need to resort to the use of a professional courier are those rare instances when the other party is refusing to hear what you have to say and won't send anything back to admit they have your fax.

This was posted via E-mail - sorry about the formatting.
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New Poll Question

There is a new Poll Question in the right hand sidebar about the New Appraisal contingency options. In teaching the New Sales Contract classes it appears to me that although we once had a big problem with Agents attempting to waive the Appraisal contingency and not knowing how, that may no longer be a very big concern for most agents.

Weigh in and let me know what you think.

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New Regional Sales Contract - What's New on Page 10

35 ENTIRE AGREEMENT: Adds “not satisfied at settlement” to the terms of the contract that survive settlement. Governing law is that of the jurisdiction where the Property is located (as opposed to the “appropriate” jurisdiction).

*** Listing and Selling Company Information: Added blanks for Team Leaders and License Numbers
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New Regional Sales Contract - Top 10 Thing To Know

The New Regional Sales Contract is out and now the current form to be used in Northern Virginia. Over the course of the last several months teaching dozens of classes to hundreds of agents, I have picked up on a couple of issues that I think may be problematic during the first few months the contract is out. In many cases, these are items that were intended to be positive changes but may have some negative unintended consequences now that the words are set in stone. Here are the Top 10 items to be aware of when drafting a contract using the New Form.

1) Paragraph 4, Down Payment: Be aware that the time for making the Down Payment has been changed from “at Settlement” to “on or before the Settlement Date” which could mean any time before 9 p.m. (or close of business). If you want to schedule a morning closing and be sure the Purchaser has wired funds in advance or brings their certified check to closing, you may want specify that the Down Payment is to be delivered to the Settlement Agent at or prior to the Settlement Conference. Of course, paragraph 20, Possession Date now says keys are to delivered “at Settlement” which may put the Seller in the position of having a buyer demand keys based on a promise to tender the down payment before the day is out.
2) Paragraphs 2 and 3 are now the Specified Financing. If you vary at all from what is here you will not have a Financing Contingency. (See Paragraph 10 C 1, 13, and 26 for references to the capital S capital F Specified Financing.) Agents wishing to leave their clients more flexibility may want to keep Paragraphs 2 and 3 more general, or add language to Paragraph 35 (other terms) that says the Purchaser reserves the right to substitute alternative financing with written notice, and that upon such notice the Alternate Financing will become the new Specified Financing for purposes of the Financing Contingency in Paragraph 10 C).
3) Paragraph 10A – remember that it is the Purchasers responsibility to confirm with their lender that any credit may be used or the credit will be reduced and the Seller will get the windfall.
4) Paragraph 10B – The Appraisal Contingency Addendum is the Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum. If you get a contract with an Appraisal Contingency Addendum attached it is probably the Maryland form!
5) Va. Jurisdictional Addendum Para 4 – don’t ask for an appraisal notice unless you really mean it, otherwise you give the Buyer an option to void the contract just by ignoring you.
6) Paragraph 10C – If you are used to saying 0 days, check Option 2 instead.
7) Paragraph 12 – Make sure your buyers apply for Insurance in the first 7 days.
8) Paragraph 15 -- Purchaser’s may make a Final inspection within 5 days of closing, but if they do, they may not get another “final” inspection on the day of closing.
9) Paragraph 26 – If the Purchaser has a financing contingency on the day of settlement, but fails to settle, they will be in default anyway. The only way to trigger the financing contingency is to deliver a written rejection letter for the Specified Financing.
10) Carry your license number with you on contract writing appointments, there is a new blank for it on the last page!

If any of these items are news to you , I will be happy to shed more light on them at our upcoming Seminar and Workshop at the McLean Community Center on Thursday.
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New Regional Sales Contract - What's New on Page 9

29. DEFINITIONS:

• “Appraisal” means a written appraised valuation of the Property. This was not a defined term.
• “Day(s)” or “day(s)” is the same as the 1999 Contract, except that small “d” days are included in the same definition.
• For “Delivery” and “Notices” definitions, see appropriate Jurisdictional Addendum.
  (MD & Virginia Jurisdictions were unable to agree on what should constitute Delivery and Notice)
• “Specified Financing” means the loan type(s) and amount(s), if any, specified in the PRICE AND FINANCING and DEEDS OF TRUST Paragraphs. This was a defined term in ¶ 9 of the Sales Contract but it is now in the Definitions section and is more precisely defined.
• “Possession Date” - See paragraph #19. This was not even referenced in the definitions paragraph before.

*** DELIVERY (Paragraph 1 of the new Va. Jurisdictional Addendum) Methods may include hand-carried, sent by professional courier service, by United States mail, by facsimile or by email transmission. The purchaser does not actually need to receive the contemplated Notice or item for Delivery to take place. What matters is that the Seller uses the proper method and the proper address. If so, Delivery is deemed to have occurred.
CAUTION: Delivery by Fax, e-mail or any method not specified in this paragraph is only effective on the day it is acknowledged in writing by the recipient. Lost or misplaced faxes will NOT constitute delivery. Faxes that sit on the machine over the weekend aren’t Delivered until someone picks them up on Monday morning and faxes/e-mails/instant messages or otherwise provides written acknowledgement.

**** NOTICES. Defined as a unilateral communication from one party to another. Adds that a response or acknowledgement is a courtesy but is not required. This was moved to the Jurisdictional Addendum to allow Maryland and DC to have Days be defined as Business Days (M-F) or Business Days (M-Sat) or Calendar Days depending on the method of Delivery.

30. MISCELLANEOUS: UNCHANGED FROM 1999

31. VOID CONTRACT: UNCHANGED FROM 1999

32. ADDITIONS: Reordered the list in alphabetical order (except for Jurisdictional Addendum which is first). Deleted “No” check box for the Jurisdictional Addendum.

33. HOME WARRANTY: This is now its own paragraph, not just part of the ADDITIONS paragraph.

34. OTHER TERMS: More lines.

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New Regional Sales Contract - Page 8

27. OTHER DISCLOSURES: Added “water quality and quantity (including, but not limited to, lead and other contaminants)” and “mold.” New disclosures for

• PROPERTY TAXES- Your property tax bill might go up. Contact the appropriate taxing authority.
• PROPERTY INSURANCE- Obtaining property insurance is normally a requirement of the lender in order to secure financing.
  

28. ASSIGNABILITY: UNCHANGED FROM 1999

Northern Virginia Association of Realtors� - nvar.com

Northern Virginia Association of Realtors� - nvar.com: "New Regional Sales Contract Available at NVAR REALTOR(r) Stores
NVAR's REALTOR(r) Store now offers the new Regional Sales Contract and associated forms for purchase:
The new Sales Contract in packages of 25 @ $50 (the Contract has grown from 5 to 10 pages!)
Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum in packages of 25 @ $15
FHA Financial Contingency Addendum in packages of 25 @ $7
Notice Removing the Financing Contingency in packages of 25 @ $7
Call or visit your nearest REALTOR� Store at Alexandria, Fairfax or Herndon to reserve yours today! "

New Contract Seminar - Back by Popular Demand

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New Regional Sales Contract - What's New on Page of 7

23. ADJUSTMENTS: Added “Unless Leased” referring to fuel left in leased fuel tanks. Words “Deed of Trust” replaced with word “loan”.

24. ATTORNEY FEES: Added words “against the responsible party” to describe litigation for which the Broker will be reimbursed costs.

25. PERFORMANCE: THIS IS IDENTICAL TO THE 1999 Contract.

26. DEFAULT: Combined old paragraphs #9C and #25 to create one Default paragraph. Slight rewording of the lettered items, removed the reference to failure to disclose material change in employment or financial circumstanced; Added language regarding applying for property insurance. Add language that Default Paragraph applies even if Financing Contingency still applies.

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What's New on Page 6

16. TERMITE INSPECTION: No more options for a 60-day-old termite report. All reports must now be dated within 30 days of closing.

17. REPAIRS: New sentence explicitly states that if Property is sold “as is,” Purchaser will be responsible for all repairs.

18. DAMAGE OR LOSS. This paragraph is identical to Pargagraph 15 in the 1999 Sales Contract.

19. TITLE: Purchasers are advised to seek legal counsel as to how they should take title to the property. Sentence on Special Assessments is moved to end of the paragraph (to make it easier to find).

20. POSSESSION DATE: Language added requiring keys to be delivered at Settlement.

21. FEES: “Appropriate” is changed to “Purchaser’s” when referring to legal fees to be paid by the Purchaser.

22. BROKER’S FEE: UNCHANGED FROM 1999.
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New Regional Sales Contract, Different in Style and Substance

Benny Kass's column on the New Regional Sales Contract. Of course, if you are a subscriber to this Blog you already knew all of this and more.

New Regional Sales Contract, Different in Style and Substance

New Regional Sales Contract - What's New on Page 5

11. VA or FHA Financing and Appraisal: These terms get their own paragraph separate and apart from Conventional Financing terms. CAUTION: Do not fill in the Appraisal Contingency in the Va. Jurisdictional Addendum if you are using VA or FHA Financing. Also, remember that the Regional Sales Contract Task Force forgot to put in an approval contingency for FHA or VA financing. You will have to use the new addendum posted here to make these loan types contingent on your buyer being approved.

12. Financing Application: This is similar to ¶9A in the old 1999 Sales Contract. New language advises the Purchaser of the consequences of failing to make timely application and to secure financing and adds the requirement that purchaser apply for lender required insurance within seven days of contract ratification.

13. ALTERNATE FINANCING: This is nearly the same as ¶9B(ii) of the 1999 Contract. Adds that if alternate financing is used and purchaser fails to close they will be in default.

14. PURCHASER’S REPRESENTATIONS: Bolds “Unless there is a separate written contingency, neither the Contract nor the Specified Financing is contingent on the sale and settlement or lease of another property, otherwise this is identical to ¶ 10 in the 1999 Sales Contract.

15. ACCESS TO PROPERTY: Specifically addresses final walk-thru and provides it may happen within 5 days of scheduled closing. Be careful though, final means final. A Seller may not allow you back into the house on the day of Settlement if you do your walk-through 3 days early.

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Commonsense Real Estate

Here is a link to Real Estate author and columnist Anthony Carr's Weblog. You'll see we use almost the same skin. Anthony was actually a student at my most recent class on the New Regional Sales Contract. I thought it was fun to teach the new contract to such a well known and widely read real estate expert.

You can read Anthony's syndicated column via RealtyTimes.com and in the Washington Times Friday Home Guide each week on his Web Log!

Commonsense Real Estate

Where to Download Sample Contract Materials - UPDATE!!!

I recently posted a link to the PWAR site where you can download samples of the New Regional Sales Contract. I checked back today and I see that although the PDF linked to has the right version of the Sales Contract, the PWAR is still posting outdated versions of the recently corrected Va. Jurisdictional Addendum and updated Regional Form 100.

I don't see these posted anywhere else, so I am posting them here.

Virginia Jurisdictional Addendum
FHA / VA Financing Contingency
Form 100


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Huge Turnout For New Sales Contract Class in McLean

We had a tremendous turnout at our class at the McLean Community Center today. We set up 250 chairs and had to bring in 50 more, and then we had to start turning people away. I think we had close to 300 agents sign in for continuing education credit. Thank all of you for coming, and for laughing at all my jokes. I think things went very well.

I tried to video tape most of it, and I will convert some of that to MP3 Audio and mpeg4 video for a postcast to be posted here.

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New Regional Sales Contract Poll

Poll Results
and next question.

PollPub.com Vote

Which form will you use for your next transaction?

The New 2006 Regional Sales Contract
The old familiar 1999 Regional Sales Contract
Some other Contract (VAR, MAR etc.)



Poll powered by PollPub.com Free Polls

What's New on Page 4

10 B. Appraisal Contingency (this is all new):

Option 1: Contract IS CONTINGENT on Purchaser obtaining an Appraisal certifying the value of the Property to be no less than the Sales Price. What happens next is specified in various addenda. In Virginia the Appraisal contingency language is made a part of the jurisdictional addendum.

Option 2: Contract is not contingent on appraisal. Purchaser acknowledges risks inherent in proceeding without a contingency and agrees to provide any additional cash necessary to close in the event of a low appraisal.

More Details are available in this earlier Blog Post

10 C. Financing Contingency (all new as well):

Option 1: This Contract IS CONTINGENT on Purchaser obtaining approval for loan(s) to purchase the Property. Contingency may be removed by delivery of new Regional Form 100 – which may or may not have to have a lender’s letter attached. If Form 100 is not delivered by the deadline the contingency continues until the Seller delivers a notice that the contract will become void in 3 days unless it satisfied.

If you check the box requiring a lender’s letter to remove the Financing Contingency, the letter must contain the following six statements:
1. The Purchaser is approved for the Specified Financing;
2. A ratified Contract has been received;
3. A written application for the financing has been made;
4. Income, asset, and liability documentation on the Purchaser have been received;
5. The Purchaser’s credit has been reviewed; and
6. The application has been reviewed and meets underwriter and investor guidelines

The Purchaser may also satisfy the contingency by providing Regional Form 100 along with evidence that they have sufficient funds to close without financing.

OPTION 2: This Contract IS NOT CONTINGENT. Purchaser acknowledges risks inherent in proceeding without a contingency

Again, more details can be found in an earlier post

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New Features

Since my first e-mail blast on September 1, when the New Sales Contract went live (at least in some jurisdictions) I have added some features to allow you to decide how and how often you'd like to be made aware of new content being added here. I have added a subscription feature to allow you to receive e-mail alerts once a day with the title and brief summaries of the day's posts using Feedblitz, a popular blogging tool. You can see how many folks have already subscribed and subscribe yourself using the 'chicklet' below.

I can also use this feature to send out urgent alerts when critical errors and fixes are discovered/implemented.

I have also added buttons for My Yahoo and Google feeds, so you can have the title and summaries of the post appear on your My Yahoo or Google home pages. I will be adding more syndication tools as I learn how to use them.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog. This allows you to leave comments and to see what other bloggers are linking here.

I hope you are finding this site useful. Please leave comments and or contact me using marcus@simon.net (for Blog related things) or msimon@mbh.com (for work related things).

New Regional Sales Contract - What's New On Page 3

9. PERSONAL PROPERTY AND FIXTURES: (Formerly Paragraph 2) The list of items has moved here from page 1, and we have added a third column (in addition to Yes or No) for the number of each item that convey. If you leave the number blank it defaults to one of that item.

• The items have been listed in alphabetical order to make things easier to find!
• Wall mounted electronic components/devices DO NOT convey
• Window treatment hardware DOES
• Attic and exhaust fans DO
• "As Is" Items: New sub-paragraph with blank line to specify item that the Seller does not warrant the condition or working order of.
• Leased Items: New subparagraph to list items leased by the Seller not owned, and to deal with transfer of existing service contracts
  

10 A. (Formerly Paragraph 8 A) Added language to clarify what happens if the lender does not approve of the entire Seller credit towards the Purchaser's closing costs. ("If lender prohibits the Seller from the payment of any portion of this credit, then said credit shall be reduced to the amount allowed by the lender.") This is what should have happened under the old contract, but the language left things ambiguous enough that folks continued to fight about it at the settlement table.

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Test Audio Post

New Regional Sales Contract - What's New on Page 2

Continuing a series that started with this post discussing the changes on Page 1, here is a highlighted copy of page two and a text explanation of what has changed.

4. DEPOSIT: Changed “has made a deposit with” to “has delivered a deposit to.” Added language limiting Escrow Agent liability to any party on account of disbursement or failure to disburse the Deposit, except in the event of the Escrow Agent’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.

5. DOWN PAYMENT: Changes “at Settlement” to “on or before the Settlement Date” and adds that an “Assignment of funds cannot be used without prior written consent of Seller.”

6. SETTLEMENT: Combines the old Settlement Agent Paragraph (old ¶19) with the SETTLEMENT paragraph (old ¶18). Specifies that each party can select their own “legal” counsel.

7. EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE AND CONDITION: The following sentence is added to remind the Seller once again not to turn off the utilities: “The Seller will have all utilities in service through Settlement or as otherwise agreed.” Adds language “except as otherwise provided” to Seller’s warranty that all items will be in normal working order.

8. UTILITIES

1. New checkbox options for alternative and community septic systems and community wells
2. Septic system check box adds language making clear we are looking for approved “bedrooms”
3. Under Water Supply: added space for Private Well, Community Well
4. Added “zones” for Heating and AC
   
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