Listing Agents: Watch for Purchase Offer Mistake on CAR RPA

Buyers don’t know what they sign so purchase offer mistake happens.

The most common type of purchase offer mistake I am noticing lately in a California Residential Purchase Agreement is a checked box that could cost the seller a ton of money if it’s not countered out of the contract. Now, true, some buyer’s agents go crazy hog wild checking boxes left and right. I see contracts that state the seller will pay all HOA fees when there is no homeowner’s association. Or, they state sellers will pay city transfer fees when the property is not located in a city.

One of the main ways buyer’s agents make a purchase offer mistake is by uploading a template in which all of the boxes are checked. I know that’s possible because I use a template for the MLS Profile, and every so often, I forget to uncheck “tile” and check “comp” because my template is set up for tract homes. I sell a lot of tract homes.

But I also move a lot of inventory in the Capitol Corridor and tile is not a common type of roof in the inner city. Fortunately, I have back-up protections in place. Often, my fabulous office assistants will question how a roof can be both tile and comp and they correct it. Or the sellers notice it and they have 3 changes to fix errors prior to publication.

Not so when we’re talking about a purchase offer mistake that is about to change the terms of the contract and the buyer’s agent just messed up. I’m talking about Paragraph 7-2 Bi and 7-2 B ii. These paragraphs refer to the seller paying for government-mandated retrofits and also, without naming it, the Water Conserving Plumbing Fixtures law.

This law says all homes built before 1994 must have water conserving plumbing fixtures. However, it is not a contingency of sale. Sellers are not required to replace all of the non-complaint shower heads, water faucets and toilets. UNLESS that box is checked on the RPA. Do you see the problem? If a listing agent doesn’t catch this mistake and remove it from the contract, her seller could be in for a world of painful, unexpected expenses.

Of course, it’s also possible since the buyer’s agent most likely checked that box in error, so the buyer’s agent would never realize she could demand the seller bring all water plumbing fixtures to compliance. But who would take that chance the agent wouldn’t notice it? Agents aren’t stupid. My name is Mork. They just make mistakes.