Buying and selling property involves enormous sums of money and a lot of risks.
Since anything involving real estate means huge investments, buyers often ask sellers to provide them with a letter of intent to sell.
This type of letter, while not legally binding, can have a significant impact of a business transaction of this nature.
Letters of intent may or may not be essential depending on what both the buyer and the seller agree on.
In most cases, letters of intent are not binding because doing so actually defeats the purpose of writing one in the first place.
A letter of intent is considered a type of ‘safety’ for the purchaser who may be interested in a particular piece of property and would not like it to be sold to another client.
As far as the content of a letter of intent is concerned, practically anything can be written.
From outlining critical elements of the transaction which will eventually become part of a selling agreement to binding the purchaser there and then, anything can be part of a letter of intent.
Here is a sample letter of intent to sell a particular property that may provide you with ideas on how to write one:
Phillip Horton
7773 Burton Street
Williamsport, PA 17798
Subject: Sale of Property
The purpose of this letter is to express my intent to sell my house to you as we discussed. I have outlined the terms and conditions of the eventual sale below:
Property Description
Property is located on Montour Boulevard, Williamsport, PA. The exact location will be provided in escrow.
Buyer Information
Mr. Phillip Horton, 7773 Burton Street, Williamsport, PA
Purchase Price: $452,000.00
Earnest Money Deposit
$100,000.00 upon the opening of escrow.
Additional $150,000.00 on the expiration of the contingency period.
Both these amounts are non-refundable.
Inspection Period
Mr. Horton (termed as Buyer from here on) is at liberty to review all documentation associated with the property mentioned above, along with any third party reports within 30 days of the opening of the escrow. If Buyer does not determine the property to be suitable for any reason whatsoever, the initial money deposit will be returned considering the time period has not expired.
Confidentiality
All aspects of this agreement will be held in confidence by both Buyer and Seller regardless of the closing of the deal.
The primary purpose of this letter is to serve as a description of intent to purchase the property as mentioned above, and it is not affected as binding on either side. The terms detailed in this letter of intent will be deemed void if it is not accepted within seven days of receipt by the Buyer.
Cathy Holmes
839 Central Avenue
Williamsport, PA 27283