George Clements Greenville, SC Real Estate

George Clements ~ Greenville, SC Real Estate

Paragraph 5 of the Contract for Sale deals with contingency. The paragraph looks something like this:

5. CONTINGENCY: The obligation of the Purchaser to purchase is also contingent upon: ____The Property
appraising for not less than the sales price as determined by lender’s appraisal or other appraisals obtained by the Purchaser. ____The Purchaser completing the sale and closing of Purchaser’s home located at___________________________________ ____House is under contract and due to close on or before_____________________ ____House is not under contract. (Addendum Regarding the Contingency Attached: ____Yes ____No)
Other:____________________________________________________________________________________________________

This paragraph deals with things that have to happen in order for the house to close.

The first one that can be checked is that the property has to appraise for not less than the sales price. Most lenders will require that an appraisal be done and that the appraisal needs to be the same or more than the purchase price amount. Lenders want to make sure that they are not lending out more money than the home is worth. If the purchase price were $200,000 and the appraisal came in at $190,000, then the purchaser is not obligated to buy the property and will receive the earnest money back. The purchaser and seller can agree to lower the price to match the appraisal and change the contract.

The next contingency deals with another home that needs to be sold. It basically says that if the property that the purchaser is selling does not sell then they are not obligated this contract. There is a place to list weather the puchaser's property is under contract or not and what the address is. A contract with a contingency like this without the purchaser's property being under contract is not as likely to be accepted by the seller.

The last blank allows for a special situation to be listed which the purchaser or seller need to have the contract contingent on.

George Clements ~ Greenville, SC Real Estate

Paragraph 4 of the Contract For Sale deals with financing. The paragraph looks something like this:

4. FINANCING: The obligation of Purchaser to purchase the Property is contingent upon the Purchaser obtaining a loan in an amount equal to ____% of the purchase price, (this contingency is not applicable unless the preceding blank is completed) of the following type: FHA ____VA____ Conventional____ Other__________________

This paragraph gives the seller an idea of the type of loan the purchaser is going to be getting or if they will be paying in cash. If the transaction were a cash deal than "CASH" would be placed in the blank next to "other." The percentage of purchase price for the loan is determined by subtracting the amount the purchaser is putting down from the sales price in the second paragraph. In most transactions, the conventional loan option is checked.

George Clements ~ Greenville, SC Real Estate

Paragraph 3 of the Contract For Sale goes into more detail with earnest money. The paragraph looks something like this:

3. EARNEST MONEY: All cash monies or certified funds will be deposited within 48 hours of receipt, all other
monies will be deposited within 48 hours after the Effective Date. If a binding Contract is not executed by all
parties, the earnest money will be returned to Purchaser. The Listing and Selling Brokers and their Agents do
not guarantee payment of check(s) accepted as earnest money. In the event of default, the earnest money will
be dispersed in accordance with Paragraph 14.

This paragraph basically says that it is important for the earnest money to be deposited by the either the purchaser's or seller's real estate company (based on which company name is on the check) as soon as possible. They want the check to be deposited within 48 hours of having a completed contract. A completed contract is when both parties have agreed on everything and signed on all of the terms.

If there is not a completed contract reached and the purchaser has written an earnest money check then the check goes back to the purchaser.

Later in paragraph 14, the contract explains what happens to the earnest money in different situations.

George Clements ~ Greenville, SC Real Estate

Paragraph 2 of the Contract For Sale deals is entitled "PRICE." The paragraph looks something like this:

2. PRICE: The purchase price is___________________________________________________________________
($_________________________)to be paid as follows: $__________________________, to be held in trust by
_____________________________________________, Escrow Agent, as a deposit of earnest money until the
sale is closed, at which time it will be credited to Purchaser, or if no closing takes place, disbursed as herein
provided. At closing the balance must be paid by certified funds or wire transfer to complete this transaction.

This is another paragraph which tells the basics just like paragraph 1. Paragraph 1 tells who and paragraph 2 tells how much. In the first line the price is spelled out and the second blank with the dollar sign uses numbers. The third blank is for the amount of earnest money that will be put down.

The amount of earnest money can start at $500 and go up from there depending on the price of the house. George can help you determine how much earnest money is acceptable. The earnest money shows how earnest you are about the property.

The forth blank shows who is holding the earnest money. This can be either the real estate company that is representing the buyer or the company that is representing the seller.

At closing, the earnest money is credited to the purchaser. If the purchase price were $100,000 and $500 had been put towards earnest money then the purchaser would owe $99,500 at closing.

The last sentence explains that the money for buying the property can only come in two forms, either certified funds or wire transfer. If you are getting a loan, the lender will send the money to the closing attorney by wire transfer. If you are putting some money down or paying all cash without a loan you will need certified funds. This can be obtained by going to your bank and asking for the amount of money you need in certified funds. Normally, you would have this made out to the closing attorney. The exact amount needed is usually known a day or two before closing and George can go over this with and give you instructions for getting the right check.

George Clements ~ Greenville, SC Real Estate

The first paragraph in the standard South Carolina Contract for Sale is "OFFER AND DESCRIPTION." The paragraph looks something like this:

1. OFFER AND DESCRIPTION: ___________________________________________________(Purchaser)
agrees to buy and _______________________________________________________________________(Seller)
agrees to sell all that lot or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon, if any located in
____________________________________________ County, South Carolina, (the “Property”) and being described as follows:
Street _____________________________________________City_________________________ Zip_____________________ Subdivision__________________________ TaxMap # __________________________Legal Lot #______________

This paragraph is telling some of the basics of the contract. It tells who the purchaser and seller are and what is being sold. The tax map and legal lot numbers can be found by going to the Greenville County GCGIS search. Sometimes the property will not be in a subdivision. If this is the case, we would just fill in "other" or "NA."