Often times, change can be frustrating; however, sometimes change can be for the better. In that spirit, during their February meeting, the Virginia REALTORS^® Standard Forms committee approved a new and improved residential purchase contract.

The new contract was the work of a subcommittee that was composed of brokers and stakeholders from all over the Commonwealth. The subcommittee met regularly and brought their wealth of knowledge and experience to the table to form a more user-friendly experience for everyone involved in selling properties.  

How was it improved? The biggest and most notable overall change is to readability. This should be great news for everyone, from the most seasoned broker to a first-time home buyer. The contract will now be easier to explain to everyone, and the duties and obligations of the parties will be much clearer to your clients. 

Another improvement is more options; we have added several new addendums, such as appraisals and seller financing. The goal of this contract is simple: to make it easier for a seller to sell (and for a buyer to buy) a property in Virginia. 

I’m sure a lot of folks will be incredibly happy to learn that the contract is now eight pages long. While everyone—including myself—wishes we could go back to one or two pages, eight pages is a great improvement in condensing language for a standard form contract.  

You may have seen that Virginia REALTORS^® is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, February 24 at 1:00 pm. This webinar will have an overview of the contract, the terms, the flow, the addendums, and the ability to be able to ask any questions relating to the new contract. 

To preempt one question, the Standard Forms committee voted to release the new contract, as well as all the other relevant forms, on May 5th. Please mark that date on your calendar. In the meantime you can preview a watermarked version here on our New Residential Purchase Contract Resource Page.

That said, Virginia REALTORS^® will offer a full host of training resources, from a class eligible for CE, to FAQs, videos, podcasts, and articles. These should help explain what the contract says and, more importantly, how to use it. We look forward to this exciting release.