Guide · November 9, 2026
The purchase contract when you sell your house without a realtor
The purchase contract decides the price, the dates, who pays which costs and what happens if the sale fails. With no agent filling in a form, you need to know what belongs in it. This guide goes through it term by term, with the Florida and Arizona rules that shape it.
Key points
- A contract to sell a house must be in writing and signed by the person it is enforced against, in Florida (section 725.01) and in Arizona (section 44-101).
- Name the parties exactly as the deed does, and describe the house by its legal description and parcel number.
- Write down the price, the earnest deposit and who holds it, how the buyer pays, the inspection period, the closing date, the kind of deed and who pays each cost.
- When the buyer uses a federally related mortgage loan, a seller may not require the buyer to buy title insurance from a particular company (12 U.S.C. 2608).
- Attach the notices your state requires. In Florida a late HOA summary lets the buyer cancel within 3 days of getting it (section 720.401).
- Have a lawyer read the contract before you sign. BIMINIO gives no legal advice.
Why the contract must be in writing
Both states have an old rule called the statute of frauds. Florida's version, section 725.01, says no action may be brought on any contract for the sale of land unless the agreement, or a note of it, is in writing and signed by the person it is enforced against. Arizona's version, section 44-101, says the same for an agreement for the sale of real property.
A spoken deal with a buyer gives neither side a promise a court will enforce. Until both of you sign a written contract, the buyer may leave the deal, and so may you. Once you sign, the written terms decide what each side must do.
Where a seller by owner gets a contract
A seller by owner has three common choices. A real estate lawyer can write or review a contract for your sale. A title company or escrow agent may supply a printed form used in your state. Or the buyer, or the buyer's agent, may send you a contract on their own form.
Whichever you use, read every line. A form written for another state may miss the notices Florida or Arizona require, and a buyer's form is written with the buyer's interests in mind. A contract you sign without reading still binds you.
The terms a contract needs
Every contract for a house covers the same ground. Check that yours answers each question in the table below, in writing.
| Term | What it must say |
|---|---|
| Parties | Each seller and buyer, with names exactly as they appear on the deed and the buyer's ID |
| Property | The street address, the legal description from your deed, and the parcel number |
| Price | The full price, and how much is cash and how much is a loan |
| Earnest deposit | The amount, the date it is due, and the title company or escrow agent that holds it |
| Financing | Whether the buyer needs a loan, the deadline to get it, and what happens if the loan fails |
| Inspection period | How many days the buyer has to inspect, and whether the buyer may cancel and get the deposit back |
| Title and closing | The title company, lawyer or escrow agent that closes the sale |
| Closing date and keys | The closing date, and the day the buyer gets the keys |
| Costs | Who pays each cost: deed tax, title policy, settlement or escrow fee, HOA papers |
| Deed | The kind of deed you will sign |
| Personal property | Appliances and other items that stay, and items you take |
| Default | What happens to the deposit if either side does not close |
Names and the legal description
Write each seller's name exactly as it reads on the deed you received when you bought. If the house is in two names, both of you sign. If one owner has died, or the house is in a trust or an estate, the person with the power to sell signs, and the title company will ask for the papers that prove that power.
Copy the legal description from your recorded deed, word for word. A street address alone can be wrong or shared. The parcel number from your tax bill ties the contract to the county's records.
The deposit and the inspection period
The earnest deposit shows the buyer is serious, and the contract decides when they lose it. Name a neutral holder: a title company or lawyer in Florida, or a licensed escrow agent in Arizona, where section 6-813 requires a license to run the escrow business.
The inspection period is the buyer's window to inspect the house and to cancel. Write the number of days, the day it starts, and whether the deposit comes back if the buyer cancels within it. A short period with a clear end protects you from a buyer who keeps other buyers away for weeks and then cancels.
For most houses built before 1978, the EPA says the buyer gets a 10-day period to test for lead-based paint. The two sides may agree in writing to make it longer or shorter, and the buyer may waive it.
Who picks the title company
The contract names the company that closes the sale. Federal law limits one choice here. Under 12 U.S.C. 2608, when the house will be bought with the help of a federally related mortgage loan, a seller may not require, directly or indirectly, that the buyer buy title insurance from any particular title company as a condition of the sale. A seller who breaks this rule is liable to the buyer for three times all charges made for the title insurance.
So agree on the company with the buyer and write it in. A buyer paying cash may ask to use its own title company, as BIMINIO does.
Read the guide: title insurance when you sell →
Costs: name the payer for each line
Each closing cost goes to the side the contract names. If the contract says nothing about a cost, the two sides must settle it before closing. List each line: in Florida the deed tax of 70 cents per $100 (section 201.02), the owner's title policy, the settlement fee and the HOA estoppel certificate; in Arizona the escrow fee, the owner's title policy, the $30 recording fee and the HOA resale papers.
Read the guide: seller closing costs in Florida and Arizona →
The notices to attach
Some notices must reach the buyer at or before the contract. Attach them, and have the buyer sign that each was received.
- Florida: the radon gas notice (section 404.056(5)), the property tax disclosure summary (section 689.261) and the flood disclosure (section 689.302).
- Florida, a house in an HOA: the HOA disclosure summary (section 720.401), and the clause in conspicuous type about the buyer's 3 day right to cancel if the summary comes late.
- Arizona, a house in an HOA: the contract should say who sends the HOA papers within 10 days of acceptance under section 33-1806.
- Arizona, a lot outside a city that is not subdivided land: the affidavit of disclosure, at least 7 days before the transfer (section 33-422).
- Both states, most houses built before 1978: the federal lead paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet.
The as is clause and what you know
Many sellers by owner sell as is, and the contract can say so: the buyer takes the house in its present condition, and you make no repairs. Write down the problems you know about at the same time. The courts of both states hold sellers to a duty to tell the buyer about known facts that lower the value and that the buyer cannot readily see (Johnson v. Davis in Florida, Hill v. Jones in Arizona). Ask a lawyer how an as is clause and that duty work together in your contract.
Read the guide: selling as is and what to tell the buyer →
Common contract mistakes in a sale by owner
Each mistake below can stop a closing or start a dispute.
- Leaving out who holds the deposit, so the buyer pays it to you or to no one.
- An open inspection period with no number of days.
- No deadline for the buyer's loan approval.
- A name that does not match the deed, so the title company stops the closing.
- Costs left unassigned, such as the Florida deed tax.
- Signing before the Florida HOA summary is delivered, which gives the buyer a right to cancel.
- Using a form from another state that leaves out your state's notices.
The contract in a sale to BIMINIO
When you sell to BIMINIO, the price in our written offer is the price at closing. We buy as is, we pay the closing costs, and a licensed title company handles the paperwork and closes the sale on the date you pick, from 7 to 35 days after you accept. Take the papers to your own lawyer before you sign if you want, and ask us about any line.
A cash offer is below full market value. Compare the terms and what you keep, side by side with any other offer you have.
Want a number to compare? BIMINIO buys in Florida and Arizona, as is, with no agent and no commission, and pays the closing costs. A written offer comes within 24 hours.