Where I do business, our company has a booklet (it's 8-1/2" x 11", maybe 40 pages long) we hand out to prospective clients on how to buy a home. In it there's a sample real estate contract. The booklet itself is prepared by a title company. So, contact a title company or even go into a real estate office and ask if they've got such information.

Having said that, real estate contracts are complicated, and they vary by jurisdiction. There are certain things that are absolutely required, incorporated as addendums (such as Lead Paint and Megan's Law). Then there are all sorts of provisions dealing with everything from provision of documents to financing contingencies.

Now, you're not required to use (or pattern) a contract used by your local real estate association. As an investor, I've seen 2 page contracts to buy property. And they're perfectly legal. But you have to understand what they cover, and what they don't. More inside information: Most contracts are written to favor either one party or the other. As an investor, I've seen many packages/programs with two sets of documents--one if the investor is the buyer of property (in which case the documents protect the buyer) and one if the investor is the seller (in which case the documents protect the seller). You definitely wouldn't want to use a buyer-friendly contract if you were the seller. And there's nothing on the documents to give away whether the document is buyer- or seller-friendly.

If you're interested in selling FSBO, then your best bet really is to go with one of the FSBO packages you can find out there. I can't vouch for their quality, but at least they were designed for people in your situation.

One other possibility: Realtors know that about 85% of FSBOs are unsuccessful. Either they eventually decide not to sell or they decide finally to list with a Realtor. As a result, you'll find a lot of Realtors very helpful even if you're trying to sell FSBO. They know that the odds are you probably won't succeed. And if they've been helpful to you, you may well consider listing your home with them. So you might contact some Realtors in your area. Be absolutely honest about your intentions. You may get a lot of genuinely useful help that way.

Hope that helps.

Hi Christina,
I am a realtor in the Tampa, Florida area, so am not sure how things are legally in New Mexico. If I were a For Sale by Owner in Florida, I would contact a local title company, who often facilitate these types of transactions. In fact, some of them put the blank forms on their websites to help FSBOs.

You may want to try a couple of title companies in your area to see if they can help.

I wish you all the best!
Kathie Barousse, Florida Executive Realty, Valrico, Florida

Hello Christina:

Unfortunately, unless you are a real estate board paying real estate agent (in other words, an "active" agent), you will not have access to the contracts that the agents use, and, we cannot provide a "blank" form to you either. In most cases, the forms we--as Realtors use--are forms used only by agents for clients.

However, you can get forms from other sources such as US Legal forms at http://www.legalforms.com. You will definitely have to pay for these forms since you are using the product of a legal company or legal service, but the cost appears to be modest --under $10 for a contract vetted by an attorney familiar with New Mexico's laws.

Good luck in the sale of your home, and I'm sorry that we cannot provide you with the forms that come from a Realtor's office.

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty