Already in Escrow without representation?

You are already in escrow. You do not have a broker.

Maybe you found the building yourself. Maybe you assumed the hard part ended when the offer was accepted. Maybe the seller's broker has been helpful, and helpful felt like the same thing as having someone on your side.

It is not the same thing. He is paid by the seller, and he is good at his job.

The Clock.

Your contingency period has an expiration date. Until it passes, nearly everything is still negotiable: the price, the credits, the repairs, the timing, and whether you buy the building at all. After it passes, most of that is gone and you are committed.

That date is the only number that matters right now.

What I do once I am in.

I read the purchase agreement and every addendum and counter.

I read the preliminary title report, and then the recorded documents behind the exceptions, which is where the problems live. A title report tells you an easement exists. It does not tell you it runs across your only usable access.

I read the zoning, and whatever amended it. The conditions of approval on any prior entitlement. The permits, and whether the square footage in the assessor's record exists in the city's.

I read the leases, the options, the exclusives, and the estoppels.

I hold the contingency calendar, so nothing expires by accident.

And I negotiate with the other side, and keep negotiating until escrow closes rather than until it opens.

The part most people will not say out loud.

If what I find means you should not buy this building, I will tell you that. You will have paid me to keep you out of a mistake, and that is a good outcome.

When this does not work.

This works when there is time to work. If your contingency expires in a matter of days, say so on the first call.

Sometimes the right advice is to ask for an extension before you do anything else. Sometimes the right advice is that I cannot do this properly in the time remaining, and I would rather tell you that than take your money.

If you are in escrow right now and something about it is making you uneasy, that feeling is worth a phone call. Every conversation is confidential.