Description of Texas Real Estate Forms

1. Texas Residential Sales Contract: Fill in all information that will not change plus your asking price at the top of paragraph 1. Paragraphs 1 and 2 can't be filled out without a potential buyer who has agreed to the price and is prepared to say how much cash he or she can offer as a down payment and what kind of mortgage loan he or she will try to get. The PDF format (Tx_Residential_Sales.pdf) includes instructions and suggestions for filling out all but the most obvious blanks.

2. Texas Seller's Disclosure of Property Condition: The purpose of this document is to allow the Seller to tell the Buyer what he or she knows about the property. It does NOT require research. "Don't know" or "Unknown" are perfectly acceptable answers for most questions. The PDF format (Tx_SellersDisclose.pdf) includes instructions and tips for filling out this document.

3. Lead Based Paint Addendum: If the home was built in 1978 or later, indicate that and attach the basically blank form to the Residential Sales Contract. If the home was built prior to 1978, answer the questions and print several copies for attachment to Residential Sales Contracts.

4. Texas Buyer's Inspection Advisory: This document simply advises the Buyer to have the property inspected, preferably by licensed professional inspectors. Fill in the address of the property, make copies and attach to the Residential Sales Contract.

5. Texas Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement: This document is designed to help the Seller tell the Buyer about situations and facts that may negatively affect the value of the property.  Unlike the Seller's Disclosure of Property Conditions , the Seller is required to contact local authorities and find out if the property is in one or more of the designated hazard areas.

6. Mold & Mold-Forming Condition Disclosure: Originally, only Louisiana and Mississippi required Sellers to tell Buyers what they knew about mold infestation, but as the mold problem spreads, more states now require Sellers to fill out this form.

7. Texas Notice About Special Flood Hazard Areas: The Seller must fill out this form if the property is in an area designated by the Federal Government as a special flood hazard areas.

8. Seller's Affidavit of Non Foreign Status: The Internal Revenue Service requires Buyers to withhold taxes from the purchase price of homes sold by foreign persons. Seller fills in Social Security number and home address and signs to certify that Seller is a tax-paying American.

9. Homeowner's Association Disclosure: Most homes built after 1980 are in sub-divisions where owners are required to join Homeowner's Associations and pay dues to maintain common property. Fill out this form if your Buyer will be required to join a Homeowner's Association.

10. As is Amendment: This amendment allows the Seller to avoid having to make any repairs to the property even if the Buyer’s inspection reveals defects. The property is sold in its current condition as of the date this single page document is signed.

11. Counter Offer::  This is a mostly blank form that allows the Seller to specify the Offer to which he or she is responding, and write in changes that make that offer acceptable (as an alternative, the Seller may simply cross out unacceptable terms and return the original offer to the Buyer).  A Buyer may use a Counter Offer to respond to the Seller.

12. Escrow Agreement: When selling a home with the help of a real estate broker, the broker usually holds the Buyer’s earnest money deposit.  The Escrow Agreement provides a place for the Seller and Buyer to name a third party to hold earnest money and other deposits. It also specifies the conditions under which the deposit are returned to the Buyer or transferred to the Seller.

13. Amendment To Residential Sales Contract: This is essentially a blank form to provide space for the Seller and Buyer to specify terms not included in the Residential Sales Contract. In most cases, the new terms can be copied from our Special Stipulations form, or 'cut' and 'pasted" into the blank space on the Amendment.

14. Special Stipulations: This is a plain text document with 24 clauses (paragraphs) that describe situations Sellers and Buyers often want to include in the Sales Contract. For instance, a Buyer may want to make the contract subject to approval of a father-in-law who is financing the purchase. These stipulations are in plain text format so they may easily be 'cut' and 'pasted' into paragraph 22 (Special Clauses) of the Residential Sales Contract, or pasted into the blank space of an Amendment to Residential Sales Contract.

Net to Seller: This form allows user to enter estimates of all closing costs (balance on current mortgage loan, attorney's fee, Title search, etc). The user manually subtracts the total estimated cost from the Purchase Price to get the amount of cash the Seller will receive at closing.

Buyer Pre-Qualification: This form records the prospective Buyer's annual income and expenses and provides manual calculation formula to determine if Buyer can afford the asking price.

Buyer Pre-Qual Sample: Buyer Pre-Qualification form filled out for a Buyer with $48,000 annual income. Based on the sample Buyer's monthly expenses, the form estimates that Buyer can afford a $144,000 house.