The Contract
Go to any office supply store, and you can buy a document labeled "Real Estate Contract" for a couple of dollars. It will be one page in length. Go to any licensed Real Estate Brokerage in Maryland and you will be presented with a document 10, 20, 30 or more pages in length. Why the disparity? Many people automatically blame "the lawyers". The reality is slightly different. In all actuality, we generally have "the legislators" to blame. Maryland state law has a number of required componenets of a valid real estate contract. Most licensed Agents and Brokers will not be party to a transaction that does not contain these components. To assure that this does not happen, they have lengthy documents containing all of the required language. Many people see the "Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas" paragraph and assume it doesn't need to be there throughout the state. While it is true that some counties don't have designated critical areas, the legislature has mandated the language appear in all contracts - even in those areas.
What does this mean? It means you're going to need to sort through the document. Any good Real Estate Salesperson can walk you through the document, assisting you in filling in the blanks. By law, that's all we can do. If you would like an explanation of what the contract means, you will need a lawyer. A Real Estate Agent or Broker attempting to "explain a contract" is practicing law, something illegal unless one is also an attorney.
The good news is that the contract is not as jumbled as one might think. It's just long and boring. All potential buyers and sellers should read it. Word for word. It's not as bad as it seems.
