Key West attorney-approval rider

One common rider makes the real estate purchase contract subject to approval by the buyer's and sellers respective attorneys within a short period of time, usually five to ten days after acceptance of the offer. In such cases, the standard contract form should include the phrase, "Subject to the Approval of the Attorneys for the Parties Within Days," with the number of days written in. In Key West without such a condition in the contract, both the real estate seller and the buyer are bound by the terms of the contract, which may be unclear or may differ from the parties' intent.

Just like the real estate inspection clause and the mortgage-contingency rider, it does allow a buyer to get out of a purchase contract. In fact, this is the reason some sellers will not accept such clauses.

An Key West attorney-approval rider could avoid this pitfall by limiting the attorney's approval to legal matters as, for example, the state of the title. In addition, the rider could specify that a lawyer must state such disapproval in writing, with the seller having the option to correct the problem causing disapproval. This type of rider ensures that the contract need not bind the parties if their lawyers find an unsatisfactory provision in the small print. Meanwhile, the buyer and seller can sign the real estate contract knowing that the other party may not easily back out of the contract because of a minor defect or objection.