Real Estate 101
Real Estate 101 is designed to help buyers and sellers in the St George real estate market better understand the terminology used in a real estate transaction. We hope you will find this basic information helpful about the process of buying and selling a home in St. George and Washington County Utah. Since most people will only purchase a few homes in their lives, it is impossible to stay up to date with current Real Estate forms and procedures. This section will be a work in progress, with new information being added regularly. Many of the forms St George Real Estate Agents use are only available for Licensed Agents to use.
REPC Real Estate Purchase Contract
The REPC is the main contract in a St George real estate transaction. This is the document that an Agent will fill out for a party interested in purchasing a home to present to the person selling a home. The REPC covers many basic concerns that have been part of a real estate transaction for years. This document is prepared by Attorneys exclusively for use by St George Real Estate Agents, and other Utah agents. The document starts out with the date the transaction will begin on (The Reference Date). The Reference Date will be used on all documentation as the transaction continues.
Earnest Money
Earnest money is the amount of money the person trying to buy a home is willing to give to the home seller if the buyer should back out of the deal without cause. The person (Agent) receiving the money should sign where requested once they have the money in hand. This money is placed in a separate account in the brokerage known as the trust account. The E Money can be placed at either brokerage, or in the care of a Title Company. The money can be collected and presented as part an offer, or collected or within 4 days after an offer has been accepted by the party selling the home. The buyer in a transaction has several ways to cancel the REPC, without loosing their Earnest Money. It is a little more difficult for the seller of a home to obtain earnest money when a buyer defaults. A St George Real Estate agent can help you with the earnest money associated with your real estate transaction.
Other Provisions
The contract then moves into the address and legal description of the St George real estate area property. The items included in the sale of the property are also established here. There are a lot of items are listed in 1.1. that typically are included in the sale of a home. 1.2 has some check boxes for additional items, and a room to add other items not listed. 1.3 is for items that will not be included as part of the transaction. Ideally the person selling their home will remove anything they do not intend on selling. If the seller wants to make sure that something will not be included in the transaction they may want to identify it here. It is important for both buyer and seller to realize that everything needs to be in writing. If it is not in writing, it is as if it didn’t happen. For example, if the seller told the buyer they would include a hot tub in the purchase, and it was never written in the REPC, or Addenda, the seller would not be legally obligated to leave the hot tub. The last part of section 1 deals with any water rights associated with the real estate. Most homes in subdivisions do not have any water rights. This section is more typically pertinent for rural properties. A St George real estate agent can help you with the paperwork associated with your real estate purchase.
