Excerpted from the San Jose Mercury News, SJMN

Market Wise Column

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Q: We are empty nesters in the process of buying a condo while concurrently selling our house. We are aware the sellers of our condo are also buying a house simultaneously. The growing family that is buying our house is also in the process of selling their current residence to first-time buyers. Who knows how many home sales are resting on the shoulders of this young couple on the bottom rung of the ladder? Since we have so many costs and commitments involved in this process, why are we not entitled to more information regarding the progress of their sale?

A: When sales are contingent upon one another, all the licensees should be communicating the progress of their transactions with good faith and fair dealing. If not, your licensee should call their managing broker for answers.

When the dominoes of concurrent home sales fall apart, it s often due to the lack of skills and communication within one of the sales. All the more reason to scrutinize the licensees you ll be dealing with on all sides, as most don t possess the skill-set, training or experience to orchestrate buying and selling simultaneously.

Pat Kapowich for SJMN’s Market Wise Column

Do you have a question for the new real estate Q&A Market Wise column in the SJMN?If so, please email them to: pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com