Why the NJ Form Contract for Sale Doesn’t Work
It is a form document.
The Form Agreement of Sale (NJ-118) is just that, a form.
A form is a baseline. A starting point upon which to build a contract that fits YOUR exact situation.
Relying on the form without any edits is doing all parties to the sale of a home a disservice because it wasn’t designed for either the buyer or the seller.
Rather, it was designed to be neutral.
Neutral sounds good in theory, except that neutral in the case of the Form Agreement of Sale, is that neither party is really protected. Form NJ-118 is so neutral it’s watered down.
When you are purchasing what is likely the largest financial purchase of your life and that’s signing you up for 30 years of payments, you want to make sure the contract is perfect for you.
Also, parts of the contract are straight up not customary in New Jersey or unenforceable in New Jersey courts.
Yes, really.
So How Do We Make It Better?
You make the contract better by customizing it with an attorney. Yes, that is an extra step in the negotiating process, but it’s not one to skimp out on.
In every attorney review meeting we have with our clients, they feel SO much better knowing these changes were made to their contract.
In fact, most of our clients are SHOCKED to know they weren’t included there to begin with!
We make the attorney review process is shockingly painless. It looks something like this:
Send us your contract and let us know what if any concerns you have with the home buying/selling process.
We review your contract and create a list of changes based on your personal circumstances.
We meet with you and go over your contract term by term AND go over our proposed changes and why they matter.
We send our proposed changes to the other side and negotiate if need be!
Badabing! Badaboom!
If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in New Jersey, chat with an attorney before you go under contract.
At The Galam Firm, we have a free 15 minute consultation just for that! You can book one here.