The Real Estate Document - A Quick Overview


by Billy Moss


Selling or purchasing a piece of real estate, be it a house, condominium, or an apartment, is probably one of the most important financial transactions a person will conduct in his lifetime. You are, in effect, rewriting history not just for yourself but for your family, or for the other family buying your apartment, house or condominium, and impacting their lives in a tectonic way for years to come.

Due to the long-term effect a single real estate transaction may have on the buyer and the seller, it is important that all the details pertaining to this transaction be formalized. Aside from mentioning the total dimension of the land, the equipment included as part of the sale and the purchase price, you have to mention and itemize each contractual obligation for buyer and seller. The Real Estate Sales Agreement will contain all these details and more in order to be considered by all means legally binding and complete.

Legally, a real estate sales agreement is a contract between both the buyer and the seller. Included in this particular document would be the terms and conditions of the sale, including all chattels that would be included herewith the property. The agreed upon purchase price should be stated (in words and numerical figures), as well the deposit (earnest money) given, down payment and final remittance. It should be made sure that the document includes exact information on how monies are to switch hands from one party to the other. A real estate sales agreement would only be considered legal and binding if both parties put pen to paper and affix their signatures, and any changes that may be agreed upon by both parties, should be attached herewith to the main document as an addendum.

In most cases, lawyers like ourselves, or real estate agents create the real estate sales agreements. But in recent years, more home sellers and home buyers are now creating their own sales agreements. For those who are having difficulty understanding the terms and language used, many real estate websites specialize in customized forms and actual legal forms that can be viewed, edited and downloaded, which includes the aforementioned real estate sales agreement, whose importance in completing a real estate transaction cannot be understated.

Online real estate forms can be downloaded and paid for accordingly on the Internet, as the websites that offer this honor all major credit cards - they can also be purchased by piece, if need be, or in bulk form. After downloading the forms and printing them out, it is now up to you to modify the content in such a way that is conversant to the requirements of both the buyer and seller, regardless of which side you are on.

All legal forms that are downloadable on real estate websites, including, and especially the extremely vital real estate sales agreement, are conversant in both format and content, thus making them recognized by all local, state and federal agencies. I would suggest, however, to have a lawyer or real estate agent review a rough draft of the document before pen is put to paper and signatures affixed - I speak from experience, and I do acknowledge that these web developers make it a point to guarantee the accuracy of these forms. Since, the real estate sales agreement is probably the most important of all real estate documents; it is of utmost importance that all the technical information stated is accurate, and that all the necessary conditions and clauses, particularly the terms of payment and possible penalties for non-payment are also clearly outlined.




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