Perplexed by those contracts? Read on

I’VE been reading and reviewing real estate books for more than 25 years, and this one struck me as particularly useful.

The focus of attorney Mark Warda’s book, “The Complete Book of Real Estate Contracts,” is to educate buyers, sellers and agents on the typical clauses found in home purchase contracts. Also included is a CD-ROM so readers can fill in the blanks on their own home sales, based on the book’s explanations.

Although consumers can use the home sales contracts found in the book and CD-ROM, the standardized forms favored by local realty sales agents will generally encounter less seller and agent resistance than something out of the ordinary for the area.

The explanations of typical home sale contracts are offered from the standpoints of all parties involved. The federally required lead-based paint clause, for example, spells out three options: the seller warrants the property is free of lead-based paint, the home is sold “as is” with no warranty, or the seller doesn’t know whether there is lead-based paint but the buyer can have the home inspected if desired.

Included is a copy of the booklet on lead-based paint disclosure, which federal law requires be given to home buyers (and tenants) of residences built before 1979, and the lead-based paint disclosure form. This material can also be downloaded from the CD.

Warda has been writing about real estate for years, but this book is his best, because it takes a confusing issue – the home sale contract – and makes it understandable.

Even if consumers never use the forms in the book, reading the contract clause explanations will make buyers, sellers and agents better informed. There are more than 200 clauses on the forms, most of which are explained in detail. The forms are ready to use, or they can be modified for a reader’s needs.

But don’t be misled by the book title. This is essentially a contract book for house and condo buyers or sellers. There are many widely used real estate forms that are not included.

Hopefully, Warda will use this format to expand this book or create similar ones using other real estate forms, such as lease options and residential and commercial leases.

Highlights include a chapter on recommended clauses, which explains 46 examples that can be used in a home sales contract, depending on the situation. The chapter on creative clauses deals with how to handle potential problems such as deposits, credits for repairs, a clause distributing the sales proceeds (especially important in divorces), who will be present when the contract is presented to the seller, contingencies for sale of the buyer’s current home and even tax-deferred exchanges.

Throughout, the “buyer’s-view” and “seller’s-view” explanations offer concise summaries of what’s key to each party.