The required Professional Services, Disclosure & Election form is signed by both Seller and Buyer in each transaction. When signing either the Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement or the Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement, you will check a box indicating that your client has seen it. At the time you sign your agency agreement, you’ll want to at least write in their chosen law office (for a seller, you may simply put “Seller wishes to use buyer’s lawyer” - if that is the case)
At this time, you will have your buyer or seller initial the rows with selected service providers added, initial the bottom of the first page and sign the second page. Later, after your offer has been made into a contract, you’ll want to meet with the buyer to discuss inspections and service providers.
It is a great idea to provide your client with 3 options for each of the service providers in the list. This can be made into a PDF using Google Docs (Download as PDF). Discuss with your buyer client at length why they should perform inspections and write down who they choose.
If you’re using Zipforms, you’ll have to redo their initials and signatures but at least there are only a couple of tasks they have to repeat. Add their choices in the appropriate fields and N/A where not-applicable.
Under “Who Orders”, type the person’s name who is responsible for scheduling the service; oftentimes, it will be you. The drop-down menu provides choices you’ve entered in the past from filling out the form.
After you have entered all relevant fields, click on e-Sign or Save it to include the form when sending a signature packet.
You’ll want to include their initials on all rows in the Selected or Waived columns. You can leave out rows that are not applicable.
Is there any reason why a realtor would advise you to initial waived in each row on this form, even if you are getting some of the services?
Hi Krista,
A realtor who has asked you to waive an inspection is probably a newbie who doesn’t understand how to use the form. You definitely wouldn’t want to waive your rights here. If your agent didn’t get a chance to go over the way inspections and due diligence work before putting an offer on a home, he/she really should go over this as soon as you’re under contract. Initially, we at least have our clients choose a law firm to use by the time we sign a listing agency agreement or put in an offer for a buyer.
Because the home purchase market has been a seller’s market, sometimes buyers have to act quickly to put in an offer on a home and possibly have missed a full buyer consultation with their agent. That’s usually when a buyer would be told about the timeline of their purchase and how the due diligence process works. This is a great time to go over the Professional Services, Disclosure & Election Form.
Please let us know if you have any other questions. You can always email us at broker@divitiarealty.com Thanks – Jennifer