What Does a Contract on Your Home Look Like?
Part of the process of selling your home is getting it under contract. Being another part in the legal process, signing a contract can be intimidating to the average homeowner. You’re not a realtor or a lawyer, so you may not fully understand what it all means.
We took some time to run through the contract you will receive from Meli. Click the link to access a PDF of our contract with a detailed breakdown of each section.
We try to keep our contract simple. Firstly, it’s called an Agreement for Sale. This is a contract that states that you agree to sell your home to our team under the conditions described in the contract.
We’ll Break Our Contract Down Step by Step:
1. The Agreement
The first section is fairly straightforward. We’ll write the date and all parties’ names.
2. Description of the Promises
Here we will include the address of your home and our survey description of your property.
3. Purchase Price
Here we will write the agreed upon price for the property, and the amount you will receive from Meli, and a separate amount (the “earnest money”) we will deposit to the Title Company in the event that we cannot close on the property.
4. Terms
The terms of the contract are the longest and usually the most complicated section of the contract. In our contract there are 10 components to our terms.
- Closings costs, attorney fees, title fees and other miscellaneous costs are to be paid in the following fashion: Meli pays ALL closing costs, so you don’t need to worry about this portion.
- Any taxes owed will be appropriately prorated between parties at closing: These will be split based on the time you owned the home during the year. If we purchase your home from you on June 30th, you will only pay 6 months of property taxes since you owned the property for 6 months of the year.
- Closing to be set as soon as possible for all parties, but no later than _____ without written addendum to this agreement: Here we will write the agreed upon closing date, upon which you will be paid.
- Property sold “as is” with no warranties implied or stated from seller: We are buying the home from you as is. Once we’ve closed, you won’t need to worry about it anymore.
- Earnest money to be held in escrow by buyer’s closing attorney: We will write the name of the title company that will handle the closing, including the title search, lien search, payoffs, and dispersing cash.
- Earnest money non-refundable to buyer unless title is non-conveyable or seller not available to close within time period of this contract: If we are unable to close on your home or the title can’t be cleared, this term states that you will receive the “earnest money,” which was written in line 2 under Purchase Price.
- This contract is contingent upon clear title and final inspection of the property by buyer or buyer’s agent before closing: The contract is only valid if the title on the property is clear and the property is in the same condition on the closing day as the day that the contract was signed.
- Seller to provide buyer with permission to access property solely for purposes such as evaluation of repairs needed, appraisal of said property for securing financing, and professional advisement on resell of property. If property is vacant, Seller shall provide Buyer with a key to access property specifically for the reasons above: Meli will need access to the property for inspections, contractors, and investor partners.
- Any furniture, fixtures, attachments, and debris located in and around property not removed within day of closing become ownership of buyer: Property left in the home or on the land is owned by Buyer on the day of closing.
- Additional Terms: Here both parties can add any additional terms they want considered in this contract. A common example we are happy to accommodate here at Meli is allowing you additional time to move out of your home after the closing date.
5. Signatures
Finally, all parties will sign and date the contract.
Questions?
We hope that this post helps you to better understand the contract. If you have any additional questions, please get in touch with us using our contact form, or by calling us at (407) 305-5008.
Meli Homes LLC is not an attorney. Please consult your attorney when making legal decisions.
