GeekMBA360

A few weeks ago I was in middle of a real estate transaction. I received an offer from a very excited buyer.

Things went downhill after both sides signed the sales agreements. The buyer’s behaviors suddenly became extremely unstable, inconsistent, and demanding. (I will write a separate post on what I learned from dealing with this difficult buyer.)

As it would take about 30 days to complete the transaction, I was very concerned as I started to see more and more warning signs. Let me put this way – I was hoping that buyer would change their minds, as I really didn’t want to do business with them any more.

Unfortunately, most real estate contracts are structured to protect the buyers more than the sellers. This made me very uncomfortable. I was kicking myself that I didn’t spend some time to fully understand the nuances of the contract before I signed it.

I remembered it was Monday night. I felt the need to talk to a real estate attorney. I had exhausted all of the search options on Google but I still had a few questions that I didn’t have an answer. I really wanted to talk to a real estate attorney as soon as possible.

But, I had two problems. First, it was almost mid-night. I had to wait until the next day. Second, I had all-day meeting with a strategic partner the next day. I won’t have any time to calling around to find a good real estate attorney, and set up an appointment.

I went back to Google and typed several variations of my question. I was hoping for an miracle to find an answer.

Interesting enough, the web site www.JustAnswer.com popped up in the search result. It is a Q & A web site that link experts in areas such as legal, medicine, auto, etc. to questioners like myself.

It’s NOT free – they charge a fees. Out of desperation, I typed my question. Within a minute, someone started a chat session with me. As a questioner, I can either choose to chat with the expert or receive answers from the expert via email.

I chose chat. I ended up talking to a real estate attorney for 30 minutes, and got all of my questions answered. I had a good night of sleep as my anxiety was all gone after talking to her – she explained to me the nuances of the contract, and helped me understand that I had many options to get out of the contract if things didn’t work out.

I paid a little bit over $50 for the service. If I’ve gone to a regular real estate attorney, I would have  paid at least $200-$300 per hour. And I need to first find an attorney, and then make an appointment. There is no guarantee the attorney will be available the next day to talk to me.

I have to say that I am super impressed by JustAnswer.com. I checked their company background – it’s started by a fellow UC Berkeley alum. Go Bears!

Anyway, if you need to talk to Lawyers, Mechanics, Doctors & Nurses, Vets, Electricians/Plumbers, Relationships, Weddings, or experts in many other categories, I highly recommend you to give JustAnswer a try. Below is an embeded JustAnswer application – give it a try!