A HOME FOR YOUR FAMILY 13
House Purchase Contracts
Distributed in furtherance
of the Acts of Congress
of May 8 and June 30, 1914.
Employment and program
opportunities are offered to
all people regardless of
race, color, national origin,
sex, age, or disability.
North Carolina State University,
North Carolina A&T State
University, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, and local
governments cooperating.
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As a first-time or trade-up home buyer,
you may be uncomfortable with the “bar
gaining” aspects of buying. Once you decide
on an offering price for a house, you will be
asked to sign a legally binding purchase
contract. If the seller accepts your offer, this
contract commits you to buy the house at
the price offered and under specific terms.
Any purchase contract should be drawn
up or carefully reviewed by an experienced
real estate attorney before you sign it. An
attorney protects your interests and can save
you money and problems. At the very least,
include on the document the words, “subject
to my attorney’s approval.” Make sure you
understand every clause of the contract
before signing.
A deposit (earnest money) towards the
down payment must be submitted with the
contract to the seller. Insist that your real
estate agent place the deposit in an interest
bearing escrow account until closing. The
contract should specify whether the deposit
is to be returned to you or kept by the seller
if the sale is not completed. It should also
spell out what happens to interest earned on
the earnest money.
FINALIZING THE DEAL
The seller is required to make a decision
(within a specific time period, usually 24 to
48 hours) about whether to accept the terms
specified in the contract. If the seller rejects
our offer, you have the option to withdraw
r counteroffer. Negotiations continue until
oth parties have reached an acceptable
greement. It is not unusual to have a
ontract go back and forth several times
efore agreement.
There is no such thin