Arkansas
Arkansas Real Estate Contract & Forms for Selling Your Home
Selling a home in Arkansas
Despite having a reputation of implementing quirky laws which supposedly state that, in Fayetteville, it is illegal for dogs to bark after 6:00 pm; or that you cannot mispronounce the State name while you are there; or that it is illegal for a man to beat his wife more than once a month – Arkansas follows standard state and federal laws when it comes to real estate transactions, particularly selling properties.
What to do
If you and your family have decided to leave the State of Arkansas and relocate someplace else, you will, most naturally, have to sell your house. Before you put that “For Sale By Owner” sign in your front lawn, you have to make sure you have gone through the preliminaries. Preliminaries include cleaning the house, having it inspected by an independent evaluator, getting a fair estimate (so you won’t over charge or be cheated out of a good price), and of course, conduct minor repairs (as necessary).
Once all of these have been completed, you are ready to plunge head-on into the exciting world of real estate.
Forms, forms and more forms
When selling a house in Arkansas, remember that just like all the states, there are rules and regulations which you must comply with. There are several forms that you need to fill up and most of these, you will need to present to all your potential buyers. Of all the pre-sale forms you are to complete, the most important of these is the property disclosure form.
You really cannot hide the tiny imperfections of your property (to jack up the selling price). Everything and anything should be disclosed and, if you neglect to be up-front about the true state of your home, you may face legal actions later on. As required by the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, you should disclose if your house was painted before 1972 (before this year, paint had very high lead content).
The Buying Process
If you think your battle with forms and legal documents are over once you’ve prepared the disclosure statement, then you are wrong. When someone becomes seriously interested in your property, expect to be bombarded with more forms.
The first document that you will receive from a prospective buyer is called an offer to purchase. This document states the proposed price, payment terms, and other conditions the buyer has in mind. If you are not happy with the conditions that have been set, you are more than welcome to prepare a counter offer. The process of presenting each other with a counter offer / offer continues until both of you agree on the terms of the sale. When this is achieved, all the conditions set will be summarized in another document, called the Purchase Agreement. Both you and your seller will be legally bound to abide by this document.
After The Exchange
If the purchase goes without a hitch, you are paid the agreed upon purchase price and you hand over all the keys and legal documents (land titles, and such) to the new owner. In some cases, you may be asked to pay additional charges (closing costs). These include lawyer’s fees, taxes, and the like.
Where to Get the Forms
All the forms needed to complete a real estate transaction in Arkansas can be obtained from the Internet. Although most real estate forms are fairly generic, there are still some documents that are specifically formatted for the State of Arkansas. These are readily available from various websites and you can purchase forms piece-meal or by bulk. It is up to you to decide what is most convenient and more practical for you.
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