“Nobody trusts anybody anymore,” says Julia Roberts in the film, My Best Friend’s Wedding.  And she’s right.  It is difficult to trust anyone nowadays because of the many temptations out there, and that includes the temptation of greed—money—which they say is the root of all evil.  So how does this apply to looking for a real estate agent?

Real estate agents are basically strangers.  The only difference is, these are strangers who know how to make your clock tick.  They know how to keep a conversation going and how to appeal to your emotions for you to hire them.  In other words, they are good at selling themselves even if some…

Listen up, home sellers! You can still earn from prospective buyers who weasel out of a deal through purchase contract contingencies.  Such contingencies allow cancellation of a contract without penalty for the buyer, and the buyers would even get back an earnest money deposit.  All along, you thought that your buyer was serious in buying your home through a contract, but he has actually been playing on the safe side through purchase contract contingencies.  So, what can you do to counteract such a mischievous plan?

Get a “Liquidated Damages” contract! But make sure that you and your homebuyer will both be signing this contract.  Otherwise, it is going to be useless.…