How to Write a Home Buyer Contract
The home buyer or the homeowner who is selling the property can write their own Home Buyer Contract (also referred to as a Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract). The contracts themselves are extremely lengthy but should include specific information in order to make the contractual agreement legal and binding.
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Things You'll Need
- Address of the property
- Name and address of seller and buyer
- Price information
Instructions
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When putting together a contract for the purpose of selling or buying real estate, it is best to get a pre-made copy and to just fill in the information. You can type your own contract, but it's important to take a look at a contract that is already put together and is legally binding so that everything is in order. They can be purchased from office supply stores, such as Office Depot or Office Max, or can be purchased online and downloaded. For someone who is trying to save a few bucks, the contract can be typed in a word processing program, such as Word or WordPerfect, by a fast and accurate typist, if the person putting the document together has an example to look at.
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When putting the contract together, be sure to include the county and the state that the property is located in. This is usually listed at the top of the page. Next, list the parties who are entering the agreement. If buying a property, this will usually include the seller of the property and the person or parties making the property purchase. List the property address next. This should be the full address and can be more specifically described, such as the land plotting or survey information. This information can usually be obtained from the county tax website, which usually lists property information by searching for a street address and the county information. You must obtain this information from your specific county and state website.
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The purchase price is listed next, along with any earnest money information and information about how the payment will be made. For example, if $500 is put down as earnest money by the home buyer and is paid by personal check, this information should be included underneath the purchase price. The fourth section should include the financing information. This will include whether or not there is third party financing, such as a bank or credit union mortgage, seller financing, etc. Title insurance is usually required, and this information is listed underneath the financing information. Next, list information and requirements regarding prorations and hazard insurance and then list the cost of closing the deal as well as the date scheduled for the closing of the sale. Information about the condition of the property is usually listed in section nine.
Again, these contracts are long and should be precise, but other information that may be included is any seller warranties, default on the property loan information, commission fees, other provisions and other disclosures. At the end of the contract, there should be a section for the purchaser and the seller to date, sign their names and to print their names. All parties involved should receive a copy of the contract, and the seller should retain the master copy.
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Tips & Warnings
Always use a legal contract even if making a copy. Some people prefer that they not hand write the information into a document, in which case it is acceptable and legal to re-type a complete document, including the specific information. There are a lot of free legal forms available on the Internet or you can sometimes look at a form that is available for purchase and can copy the information word for word into a word processing document. Often times these forms are not available for printing unless they are purchased.
Have a lawyer check over the document you put together even if you want to save money by putting together your own document. It's worth the money to have it checked over to make sure it's legal.
