Bilateral Contract
A bilateral contract is a pretty straightforward term. No horseplay there. It’s a legal agreement between two individuals who both agree to do (or not to do) a specific act.
The truth is that, when you think of the standard contract, you think of a bilateral contract. It’s one of those instances where one part of the term is so usual, it gets dropped out of the term, so people omit the “bilateral” and just say contract. In it, each party has its set of obligations; even if it’s party A does a service, party B pays for it. Or, more simple than that: if party A is responsible for giving money and party B for transferring the title to party A.
However, there are rare unilateral contracts where one party is under the obligation of giving a compensation should the other party perform a specific task, but the other party is not obligated to perform that task. In other words, when one party failing to perform a task is not considered a breach of contract, it’s not a bilateral contract but a unilateral.
An example of a bilateral contract in real estate is a regular property sale. The home seller is obligated to give the house and put it under the buyer’s name if the home buyer pays for the amount specified on the bilateral contract. Now, in an exclusive agency listing, what the real estate agent does with a home seller is not a bilateral contract but an unilateral contract because it specifies that the homeowner must pay a commission to that agent if the real estate agent brings the best deal for him; however, he is not in breach of contract if he doesn’t bring the winning bid. Got it?
Sign a bilateral contract with “smart”: don’t go the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route; find a real estate agent to go with you on this journey!
Popular Real Estate Terms
Sponsor sells interest to real estate investors in one property only. The total amount received from the equity investors is used by the sponsor to buy the property for the partnership. ...
Legal obligation to pay taxes associated with owning property or earning income. For example, a real estate owner must pay property taxes. ...
Degree of completion or accomplishment such as a home that is 70% completed. Condition of real property. Position of an item. Legal standing such as of a case. ...
Properties that about and actually touch and share a common border. Properties B and C are contiguous. Property A is adjacent to properties B and C, but it is not contiguous. ...
“What is Situs?”, you ask.Situs is a word in Latin that basically means the site or location where something exists or originates. Like most words in latin, situs is usually ...
Map presented to a municipality's planning agency by a real estate developer for consideration and approval. ...
Allocating common or central costs to each unit of property. An example is assigning to each owner of an apartment based on the number of rooms occupied the cost incurred by the landlord to ...
When we think of rural property or rural real estate, most of us think of farms, properties with large areas designated to agricultural land. That’s how rural communities generally ...
Under a FHA-insured mortgage, both the property and the borrower must meet certain minimum standards. The borrower is charged an insurance fee of one-half percent on the unpaid balance and ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.