What is this topic about?

Writing the Deal is about contracts. Contracts are the glue that holds real estate deals together. Contracts hold deals together because they are enforceable in a court of law. The coercive power of the state lies just below the surface in every real estate transaction. It makes the process of buying and selling real property more formal and more stressful.

This topic begins with Understanding Contracts. The Understanding Contracts section covers the common law of contracts from formation of the contract to its enforcement including, along the way, everything from the necessary legal elements of a contract to dealing with multiple offers. Also included in the topic is the subject of Standardized Sale Forms. Addendums, a ubiquitous partner of sales forms, are covered in the Addendums section of this subject.

Writing the Deal is about more than just form contracts and addendums, it is also about the performance of contracts. This important subject is explained in the Aiding Contract Performance section. A big part of aiding contract performance is what to do if one party or the other threatens to, or actually does, breach the contract. When that happens, the agent can benefit from the Handling Client Disputes section of this topic.