Real Estate Law is a lot more complicated than it has ever been in the past. Now when you sign a brokerage agreement with a realtor instead of 1 page or 2 pages it is 14 pages? That is just for the listing. Why is it so long? Well that is nothing compared to all the other forms involved and they just keep getting bigger due to all the laws, bureaucracy and lawyers. Everyone is so busy trying to cover themselves and their rear ends from every known or potential eventuality.
It is a giant game of 100s of pages of What Ifs. How can you have time to read it all? Well you need to make the time and it also makes sense to not allow yourself to be forced into doing anything too fast out of social conditioning. Such as thinking you might look stupid if you read it all or that you are wasting the other person’s time. In Real Estate Law you have a right to knowing what you are signing and why.
If you were a business person would you sign an agreement without reading it all the way through? I think not. And realize your home is probably the biggest personal investment you will ever make and it will take you years to pay it off. Is it worth rushing through if you still have questions? Read it, understand it and ask questions and you will be glad you did.
Go buy the book Real Estate Law 4 Smarty Pants’ if you can find that title; if you have to, but please read and understand what you are signing. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.
Real Estate Laws – Home Energy Efficiency Laws Bumping Up Against Property Rights
Many federal legislators never stop long enough to read the bills they are signing. This leads to unintended consequences. Take for instance the new home energy efficiency rules that were tucked inside the alternative energy spending bill. There is a clause in that bill that prevents homeowners from selling their property if they don’t have proper weather stripping and if their homes are not energy compliant. But if the homeowner cannot afford to upgrade, then they are not allowed to sell there home to the new buyer or the new buyer is not allowed to buy the home until things have been upgraded.
This obviously means there will be fewer home sales at a time when the real estate market is in the trash can, and it could lead to more foreclosures. It’s laws like this that don’t help anyone and while we may be helping ourselves to better efficiency in our energy usage, we are violating the personal property rights of the owners and getting in the way of the right of free contract which is guaranteed in the Constitution.
All too often the government gets in the way of private agreements and contracts in the free market, and each time they do their unintended consequences hurt the rights of citizens. Further, many homes were built, which are very old can never be fully energy compliant and therefore they will either have to be torn down or they cannot be sold.