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
Expenditures incurred to develop real estate. An example is the cost to build a shopping center. ...
Net operating income (NOI) of property relative to its market value. If rental income property worth $1,000,000 results in NOI of $100,000, the overall return is 10%. NOI compared to ...
Upgrading made by a lessee to leased property. Examples are paneling and wallpapering. These improvements revert to the lessor at the expiration of the lease term. As improvement costs are ...
For real estate investors, the vacancy and credit loss is a way to determine a property’s potential for profit. This value is determined by subtracting the losses brought by vacant ...
Book value is a quintessential term used in the financial world and the real estate business. Though, there are slight differences in its interpretation in these two areas of ...
In appraisal jargon, property currently being appraised. ...
Legal right or privilege, such as that arising from a contract, to use land owned by another person or business for a specific purpose. The use should be reasonable for the circumstances. ...
Act of postponing a closing for another day or place. Adjournments of closing can occur for a variety of reasons including the lack of an appropriate closing statement, one or more parties ...
Special court for the purpose of providing fast, inexpensive and informal settlement of small financial claims between plaintiff and defendant. The parties represent themselves. A landlord ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.