Purchase Agreements
Nearly every purchase dispute is decided by language that was written before anyone thought there would be a dispute.
This is drafting and negotiation work rather than litigation, and it is the cheapest part of a transaction to get right. A standard form filled in quickly is adequate for a straightforward deal between cooperative parties. It stops being adequate as soon as the transaction has anything unusual in it: seller financing, an occupancy period after closing, a property with a tenant, an entity on either side, land being split, or a structure whose condition is genuinely unknown.
The firm drafts and negotiates agreements for transactions where the amount at stake justifies having the document written for the deal instead of adapted to it. It also reviews agreements before signing where a party wants to understand what they are actually committing to.
Transactions worth papering properly
- Seller financed sales and land contracts, where the payment terms and remedies have to be built rather than assumed
- Sales between family members or business partners, where the informality is exactly what creates the later dispute
- Property with existing tenants, where leases, deposits and possession all have to transfer correctly
- Entity to entity transactions, and sales involving trusts or estates
- Deals with an occupancy or leaseback period after closing
- Sales of a parcel being split, or of land with access that depends on an easement
- Commercial acquisitions where due diligence periods and inspection rights carry real money
- Any transaction where one side has already sent you their document to sign
What actually decides these later
| Provision | Why it decides the dispute |
|---|---|
| Contingencies | Defines the only lawful exits. A loose financing or inspection contingency lets a buyer leave at will. A tight one traps a buyer who cannot perform. |
| Notice provisions | Determines whether an exercised contingency counts. Correct substance delivered the wrong way, or a day late, frequently fails. |
| Time of the essence | Converts a missed date from an inconvenience into a breach. Its presence or absence changes the entire remedy analysis. |
| Default and remedies | States what each side gets on breach, whether the deposit is the limit of exposure, and whether specific performance is preserved. |
| Condition and as is language | Allocates the risk of unknown defects, and interacts with the seller disclosure obligations in ways parties rarely anticipate. |
| Title and survey | Sets who clears what, by when, and what happens if an exception cannot be removed before closing. |
| Risk of loss | Decides who carries the loss if the property is damaged between signing and closing. |
| Attorney fees | Determines whether enforcing the contract is economically worth doing at all. |
The most expensive documents are the ones signed quickly because the other side described them as standard. A form is only standard until your transaction is not.
How this work runs
- The deal gets describedParties, property, price, timing, financing, occupancy, and anything unusual. The structure drives the drafting.
- Risk allocation decidedWhich side carries which unknown, and what each side is prepared to walk away over. This is the actual negotiation.
- Drafting or markupA document written for the transaction, or a redline of theirs with the consequences of each change explained plainly.
- Through to signingNegotiation of open points and a final read before execution, so nothing changed quietly in the last version.
Questions about agreements
I already have a standard form. Is that not enough?
For a conventional sale between unrelated parties with a lender and a title company involved, often yes. Forms are written for the ordinary case. The moment your deal includes seller financing, a tenant, an entity, a split parcel or an occupancy period, the form is being asked to do something it was not drafted for.
The other side sent me their agreement. Can you just look at it?
Yes, and that is a common and sensible engagement. A review identifies what you are committing to, what is missing, and which two or three changes are actually worth negotiating rather than everything that could theoretically be improved.
Can you write it if we have already agreed on price?
That is usually the right moment. Price is the easy term. The terms that generate disputes are timing, condition, contingencies and remedies, and those are still open once price is settled.
What does this cost?
[FEE STRUCTURE]. Drafting and review work is quoted before it begins, and the scope is agreed in writing.
Have it read before you sign it.
[PHONE]Matters with a closing date, a filing deadline or a hearing already on the calendar are handled by phone.