3 Critical Legal Errors and How to Avoid Them - FSBO Sellers Beware!

Darren Meade
3 Critical Legal Errors and How to Avoid Them

Legal Error #1 - Not Disclosing Everything

It’s your job as a home seller to disclose everything to the person purchasing your home. If the deal falls through, it falls through. It doesn’t matter when compared to the legal nightmare you could be in if you don’t disclose everything and the buyer slaps you with a lawsuit later on. Yes. It is possible. So, what specifically do you need to disclose? First, any problems the home has. Additionally, you should point out any repairs that need to be made. Do it in writing and have the buyer sign off on it. This will protect you down the road and ensure a worry-free transaction. It is important to note that a seller has no

liability if they did not know about a problem. But don’t try to use this as a loophole. If you ever get into a legal situation and you are caught in a lie and it is proven you DID know about the problem and failed to disclose, you will be in a heap of trouble.

Legal Error #2 - Using a Vague Financing Contingency Clause

Did you know that failure of the financing contingency is the greatest cause for cancellation of a contract for the sale of residential property? It is also the greatest cause of disputes because most contract clauses commonly used are too vague and create uncertainty. Usually the buyer needs a mortgage. If they can’t qualify, the financing contingency is the buyer's escape clause. So, your offer should clearly specify the ground rules about the financing contingency. If the buyer applies promptly for their mortgage, they should have an answer within 30 days. After the specified time what is required? What does the contract say? A typical loan contingency clause reads: "The Buyer may cancel the contract if he is unable to obtain an 80% mortgage for 30 years at 7.5% fixed rate within 30 days." So what happens if the Buyer's loan is rejected? The above clause is vague and doesn’t address this important issue. It does not state


what notice is required. A better clause would say the following: "If the Buyer cannot obtain a mortgage within 30 days, Buyer must notify Seller (in writing within 30 days of the date of this contract) of his election to cancel this contract. Failure to give notice of cancellation within such time period constitutes waiver of this financing contingency. This clause is clear; and the Buyer's obligations are clear; so there is no confusion about what is required and when.

Legal Error #3 - Making Your Offer Contingent upon Buyer’s Sale

Your Buyer may offer that they will purchase your home, but only after they successfully sell their old home. Through no fault of the Buyer, their other transaction may fall apart, causing cancellation of the deal. So, how do you deal with this? Placing a strict time limit on this type of contingency is the only defense. You need to specify, in writing, how long the Buyer has to sell their current home before your deal will automatically terminate.

DID YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT MAKE YOU AWARE OF THESE IMPORTANT

LEGAL ISSUES?

If the answer is no, or if you haven’t chosen an Agent yet, you need to find and hire an Agent who is aware of these and other important legal concerns. We would like to help you do just that, FREE.

We offer a FREE “Agent Locator Service”. Because we are “in the business”, we know exactly who the best Real Estate Agents are. We would be happy to introduce you to a top agent who is experienced and knows the ins and outs of Real Estate legalities.
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Darren Meade

To share with you a brief history, I was homeless as a teenager for two-and-half years where I lived in the streets begging for food and change. As you can imagine, my life was filled with a great deal of uncertainty.

By divine grace and guidance, I took shelter in the parking lot of a gym. The owner of the gym noticed me camping out there and after several weeks took me in. Pretty soon I had been adopted by the group of bodybuilders there and was given the nickname 'Pup'.

However, it was after the very painful experience of my father committing suicide six months after getting off the street that I began my personal journey into spiritual growth and began questioning how I could affect a greater number people in a more loving, profound and personal way.

Over the course of several years I went from being homeless to living in a condo on a golf course and representing the United States in international events culminating in winning the middleweight title of the IFBB Mr. North America bodybuilding competition. At the same time I co-founded a nutritional which exploded in the nutrition market and by age 27 I made my first million. Being young, I then squandered my first 3 million to turn around and build it again and again...slow learner at times!

Many of my lessons learned through out my spiritual path have been in the face of adversity. While "crisis" has often had its own way of waking me to the moment and reminding me of what is important to me now, it is not a requirement of this journey.

Just when I thought I had a handle on life, the handle broke.

I've learned another new lesson about life; including truly releasing and forgiving those whom hurt you. In April 2008 my aorta (main artery from your heart) ruptured in three (3) places.

I was given less than a 10% chance of survival and I was on life-support for 3 weeks. During this time the charge nurse spoke to a family friend and informed them they were going to amputate my leg, and that I was to young to die and they needed to transfer me to a new hospital (UCLA).

While I lived, my personal relationship ended within 10 days of my being discharged from the hospital. To be fair the doctors said I might never walk again, and that they believed I would be on a catheter for the rest of my life. I lost 50lbs of muscle. So she was leaving someone who might never be able to walk; make love or be able to return to work. However I've always been an over-achiever.

For instance I went off diaylisis, my bladder which had nerve damage returned to normal, the catheters out and I the leg another hospital wanted to amputate is responding and I'm learning to walk on it once again. I no longer use my wheel chair and am learning to walk without crutches.

The only suffering came from my own thoughts, believing this person would be with me to over-come these issues. I now realize that was the largest blessing of all.

EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY OF DARREN M. MEADE


Darren Meade, of Kairos-Meade, has a life, which exhibits the quintessential triumphant story. He was abandoned by his parents and homeless at the age of 14, weighing less than 100 pounds and today negotiates multi-million dollar agreements.

His business career developed initially from his passion for body building. As a youth, after being homeless for two-years, he was taken in by individuals who allowed him to utilize their company gym. Darren focused that passion and successfully won several awards in competitive body building, culminating in winning the Mr. North America title for the middleweight division and represented the United States in international events. His extensive exposure in competitive body building assisted in developing relationships with industry leaders in the medical device and nutritional supplement industries.

As Darren rapidly progressed in
professional endeavors, he designed a new business model not yet used in the industry for a then unknown nutritional company. The retail experiment led by Darren worked, and within two years he drove sales from $1 million to in excess of $40 million.

Moving forward to his next success, Darren proved that he could do it again and took another company to $35 million in a single year. He diligently oversaw all facets of assisting an international research organization´s quest to gain acceptance in the U.S. biotechnology sector by partnering with one of the world´s largest biotechnology companies within only five-months. This was accomplished after the organization had tried for years and used over 50 consultants and development personnel without results.

A key to Darren´s success is his passion for each new business he enters. He specializes in building profitable long-term relationships with clients, vendors and staff.
He has proven that success is contagious.

In addition to his business accomplishments, Darren has actively participated through service of time and finances to homeless shelters and civic community organizations. He is a Deputy CEO of the Invisible Youth Foundation. Darren recently volunteered on Arnold Schwarzenegger´s successful run for Governor. Due to his efforts, he was offered a position in Sacramento. He was selected by the Orange County Register to write columns regarding the process of the campaign through to the inauguration and planning for policies.