Dissecting the Purchase Contract
Buying your first home is one life’s biggest events. The simple magnitude of the dollars involved and the length of the mortgage commitment can be daunting. And few exercises can be as stressful as looking for and finding the right property. But, once the search through the endless stream of potential properties yields the needle in the haystack, the diamond in the rough, the proverbial jackpot at the end of the rainbow, it becomes time to actually execute the transaction and get the deal done. I personally remember being in the room when my wife and I were making this grand acquisition, but I don’t remember anything that was said, I just remember signing and initialing paper after paper as if I were trying to initial every scrap of paper at a ticker-tape parade! So, as an act of mercy, I’ve put together the following notes on the various clauses and conditions of the sales contract so it doesn’t sound as if the attorneys are speaking Kilingon during the closing.
Sales contracts are binding legal documents, period. Ignorance is not an excuse when, after the contract is signed, you realize you didn’t understand what the fine print, the terms and conditions, actually meant. This fact can be scary, there is no fudge factor allowed, so it is important that you take steps to make certain that everything in your sales contract is factual and completely accurate prior to signing.
