It’s closing day and the Seller requests additional time to remove belongings from the property. Seems harmless enough, right? Well if not properly addressed it can lead to an expensive lesson for the buyer. For example, a couple of weeks ago a buyer contacted my office requesting advice on how to get the seller to remove “junk” left in the home. Apparently, the realtors and the seller/buyer came to an “agreement” that the Buyer would give Seller a few days to remove all of the items from the home. These items were described in the telephone call as the Seller’s furniture, attic items, boxes from the garage, and JUNK. The buyer continued to complain that the Seller took everything but the JUNK and he was quoted $2,500.00 to have it removed. Image that! While it’s great the realtors talked about the issue, they unfortunately did not address in writing the “What If” component. What if the Seller doesn’t remove all of the items? Then what? One easy solution is to require that a portion of the seller’s proceeds be withheld at closing. Sound extreme? Maybe, but it really depends on the circumstances and how much “junk” was still there at the walk through. How much to withhold would depend on how much and what type of items are left and how much it would cost the buyer if he had to have it removed. By withholding an amount from the Seller’s proceeds, it would certainly motivate the Seller to timely remove his belongings/junk as well as providing sufficient funds to cover removal costs if the items were left on the premises.

So what should have happened? A “what if” agreement should have been prepared addressing how much of the proceeds should be withheld and how and when the funds would be released upon compliance or non-compliance of the agreement. The realtors could have also advised the closing attorney so he could have suggested a solution and/or provided a written agreement that addressed the issue.

We always talk about how to protect your client prior to closing with a well-documented purchase agreement. This is a good example of how to protect your client at the table and avoiding those potential post-closing problems. Remember, a happy client is a referring client.