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Purchase and Sales Agreements for Bare Land

Started by emclNH, July 17, 2020, 12:54:17 PM

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emclNH

Hello everybody,

I have been taking a class in business law, this summer, and one of the assignments is to write up a contract.  I have chosen to create a custom purchase and sale agreement for a piece of bare land.  I was inspired to pick this topic, because the purchase and sale that I signed for my own property was a standard form that the real estate company used for house sales, and had a number of provisions that just didn't make sense for a land sale.  Here is a link to the blank form, if anybody would like to take a look.

https://www.pdffiller.com/jsfiller-desk11/?projectId=496942279#15ff0bbc522443d2864764c8286449a1

Before completing this project, I thought I would reach out here to see if anybody had any advise for specific points to include.  I know, in my case, I would have liked specific mention of the conservation easements on my property, and perhaps a paragraph listing whether loss of timber to fire or another natural disaster was a valid reason for cancelling the contract.

If any of you have any other ideas, I would be interested to hear them.

sprucebunny

After a couple minutes, it had not opened on my Mac computer. Got stuck at about 66%.

Yes, it's often better to start from scratch with a lawyer writing a purchase and sale for you. Worth the money to have one review that document before your purchase.
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

GAB

Make sure and specify that any earnest money deposit will be held by your attorney.  If the sellers are out of state their attorney might insist that he has control of the earnest money deposit and if there is a failure to fulfill the contract it may take a long time before your money is returned if ever.
There needs to be a clause that if any papers are signed that affect or incumber the property during the time of the offer and closing that it allows you the option to either back out of, or renegotiate the offer.  Example: The sellers sign papers increasing the ROW from 3 rods to 6 rods.
Note: I could not do anything with your pdffiller .com.  It opened very fuzzy (not readable) and I could not scroll it.
GAB
W-M LT40HDD34, SLR, JD 420, JD 950w/loader and Woods backhoe, V3507 Fransguard winch, Cordwood Saw, 18' flat bed trailer, and other toys.

hedgerow

I have bought several farms over the years some bare land and some with home sites. Process around here is pretty simple. Hire a lawyer to write a agreement that spells out earnest money terms of payment and when the deed gets deeded over and have a title company do a title search that will check on a lot of things like easements, liens, how current is the survey. Your bank or the guys bank that selling the land may have some requests that have to be in the agreement. We bought a farm years ago a guy had a bunch of money borrow against and that got very trick'y getting a free and clear deed to that land. Title search on that farm came back two banks and a dirt company had liens against the farm. When the guy came over wanting to sell it he said its all free and clear and the sale will be no problem. It was a big problem I wouldn't have deal with it but we owned the farm right next to it. 

Walnut Beast

Make sure you get everything in writing. Long story short. Sold a farm.  I had a lawyer draw a access easement through one side to my other land. The  realtor did not tell the buyer about the easement from what they said.  Even know it was in the title search. Got a lawsuit against me and the realtor. Separate lawsuits. Long story short. Went to mediation. Ended up giving back the easement and paid a portion of there attorney fees. A couple loop holes for the realtor. If we had gone to court and lost. I could have been stuck with all the plaintiffs legal fees that were already over 20k. Should have done a cross claim against the realtor!! I give that realtor a lot of business and he flat out lied to me. We were done! I might add he never told them about the four walnut trees cut down after the purchase agreement that came into play. They wanted to get the trees back or money and I said absolutely not in the negotiations. Don't ever take somebody's word when you tell them something! 

Walnut Beast

Check to see if the property is in a flood plain anywhere  and to know for certain where the boundaries are if it could affect the property 

Walnut Beast

Check to see if the land is in any government program. Like CRP (conservation reserve program)for example. Let's say your buying 25 acres and 6 of it is in the CRP and you are not aware 100 percent of the details but you know it's a 10 year contract and there is 4 years left on it and you go great I'm getting paid on it. Like 150 bucks a acre per year and you sign off on it on the land sale. It's all yours now. You want to build a house or whatever on that 6 acres. So you go to take it out of the program. You will be responsible for the amount of money that has been paid out over the 6 years, interest, penalties and any incentives that have been paid out. This can add up. If you just keep it in CRP there is maintenance involved like spraying usually for noxious weeds and trees. You must adhere to there rules.  Your also responsible to pay the taxes on the money you receive from being in the program. 

Walnut Beast

Like the old saying goes fences make good neighbors. Encroachment on land or a access road that someone has used for a lengthy period. Let's say you buy a piece of property and you were aware of a neighbor that had a drive that went over the property line 4 or 5 feet for a short distance and you think no big deal and buy the place. Later on things go south with your new neighbor or you simply don't want the drive coming over anymore. It goes to court. If he has been using it that way for certain length of time and you were aware of it. Trouble! A good possibility they rule in his favor 🤔

WV Sawmiller

   Good luck. Personally I would never sign a contract to sell such land with a clause such as described about fire or flood or such voiding the contract because, as a seller, I could not do anything to prevent it. Maybe the buyer let a brushpile fire escape or cut a tree that blocked a drain or such causing the flooding. I'd think that was what insurance was for if you are worried about such. 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Sedgehammer

Necessity is the engine of drive

emclNH

Thanks for all of the ideas.  I went ahead and attached my finished project for anybody who would like to take a look.  The underlined and highlighted text is for terms that I would anticipate changing, based on the exact property being sold.

I am sorry for the link in my opening post not working.  For anybody that would like to see a standard real estate contract from New Hampshire, just Google NH Association of Realtors purchase and sale agreement.

Thanks again for the help.

dgdrls

Up to date survey and abstract, 


 
Maine man saws neighbor?s garage in half amid boundary dispute

I agree with good faith dollars being held by your attorney

D

emclNH

Great article.  It illustrates the need for a survey, pretty well, and also is one reason that I live in New Hampshire instead of Maine.  We're not always the sanest people on earth, here, but Mainers are a breed all their own  ;D.

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