When it comes to one of the largest purchases you will ever make in your life, there's no such thing as too much information. You're about to enter into multiple legal and binding contracts through the process of buying or selling real estate, and there will be a lot of paperwork to go through with your Realtor, all of which you should be familiar with and understand.
While most of the paperwork that you'll sign during the process is completed on pre-printed standard forms, many of the clauses contain legal terminology that the average person may not completely understand, especially when facing the pressures of negotiations. Your salesperson should review all of this with you in further detail to make sure you know full legal rights and liabilities, but to help familiarize you with some of the basics, we've compiled samples of some of the most common forms that have been broken down in plain english to help simplify the process.
Buyer Representation Agreement
( Buyers sign this when they begin a search with a Realtor)
(When a seller puts their home on the market for sale)
(Used for buyers and sellers and outlines the Realtor relationship)
(Used to specify a particular 'offer date' or whether a seller will consider a pre-emptive offer)
Agreement of Purchase and Sale
(This is the main contract between buyer and seller, otherwise known as the 'offer')
Confirmation of Cooperation and Representation
(Completed with an offer and outlines how each party is represented and how brokerages are to be paid)
Make sure you know what's at stake before you sign, and don't ever feel pressured to sign something you don't agree with or fully understand.
