Purchase and Sale Agreements

The purchase and sale agreement is the most important document in any real estate transaction. It defines what’s being sold, at what price, on what terms, with what contingencies, and with what consequences if either side doesn’t perform. Most of the legal work of protecting a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction happens, or should happen, in the purchase and sale agreement, not at closing.

Georgia real estate transactions often use standard form agreements, the GAR forms developed by the Georgia Association of Realtors are common. Standard forms are a starting point, not a finish line. They contain provisions that work well for routine transactions, but they also contain blanks to be filled in, options to be selected, and terms that can be modified. The choices made in those provisions determine the outcome when something goes wrong.

For buyers, the critical areas include the due diligence period and what it covers, the inspection and financing contingencies, the allocation of repair obligations, what happens if title isn’t clear, and the consequences of a seller default. For sellers, the equivalent concerns are the specifics of what’s included in the sale, how the closing timeline is defined, the representations being made about the property, and what remedies exist if the buyer backs out.

For agricultural land transactions, the purchase and sale agreement carries additional complexity: the disposition of existing leases, crop year considerations, equipment and inventory included in the sale, water rights and well agreements, existing conservation easements, and the treatment of government farm program contracts and payments. These provisions are commonly overlooked in form agreements and commonly significant in disputes.

Victoria reviews and negotiates purchase and sale agreements for Georgia buyers and sellers, in residential, commercial, and agricultural transactions, with clear attention to the provisions that determine the outcome when the deal doesn’t go exactly as planned.