Contracts, Purchase and Sale Agreements, and Conveyancing
Formation and contingencies
Contract items are mostly about formation and deadlines. A contract for the sale of land must be written and signed by the party to be charged; an offer may be revoked before acceptance; a counteroffer terminates the original offer and restarts the process. In the DC area, transactions typically ride on a regional sales contract form with addenda - inspection, financing and appraisal contingencies, condominium document review, and deadlines measured in days from acceptance or from receipt of documents.
Required disclosures
Disclosures are layered: the DC seller's residential property disclosure statement, the condominium or cooperative resale package with the association's budget and rules, lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing, and, for tenants, TOPA and relocation notices. Skipping a disclosure is not a shortcut; it is a defect the buyer can use later.
Conveyancing
Title passes by deed - general warranty, special warranty, bargain and sale, or quitclaim - which must be acknowledged, delivered, and recorded with the DC Recorder of Deeds. Easements, encumbrances, and ground-rent leases must be identified in the title report; the District's long ground-rent tradition means a purchaser may be buying a leasehold, not the fee. Financing documents are usually deeds of trust, enforced by a trustee's sale, and residential foreclosure is subject to the District's mediation requirements.
Rule of thumb: measure every contingency from a stated trigger date, and confirm any waiver or extension in writing before the deadline passes.