Before you sign: what your agent should go over with you

The rule: no walkthrough, no signature

Buying or selling a home means signing several documents: an agreement with your agent, the offer, and usually a few addenda. Each one is a binding contract. Your agent owes you a duty to explain what you’re signing before you sign it, section by section. That’s part of how your agent protects you, not an extra.

If a signing link shows up in your email and nobody has gone over the document with you, don’t sign it yet. Call your agent and ask them to walk you through it. A good agent will be glad you asked.

What your agent should cover

1. Every dollar. The price, the due diligence fee, the earnest money, any help from the seller, and what you owe your own agent. You should know where each number goes and when it’s due.
2. Every date. When the contract starts, when your due diligence period ends, and when closing happens. Missing a date can cost you money.
3. What happens if something goes wrong. What you lose if you back out, and when. What happens if the other side backs out. Most people never ask until it’s too late.
4. What stays with the house. Appliances, mirrors, smart devices, the shed. If it isn’t in the contract, don’t count on it.
5. Every blank and every addendum. Blanks that don’t apply should say so, not sit empty. Every addendum should be listed in the contract and explained to you.

Who has to sign

Everyone who has to sign the deed should sign the contract. That often includes a spouse whose name isn’t on the title. When a married couple owns their home together, North Carolina law says one spouse can’t sell it without the other’s signature. In one case that reached the North Carolina Court of Appeals, a buyer signed a contract with the husband alone. When the husband backed out, the buyer sued, and the court threw the case out, because the wife had never signed. If you’re selling, ask your agent who needs to sign before the house goes on the market.

Changes and copies

If anything is changed by hand, both sides should initial and date the change. If there are a lot of changes, ask for a clean new copy to sign instead. And keep a copy of every version you sign, including every counteroffer. If a question comes up later, your own copies are your best protection.

How I do it

I teach this to other brokers, and here’s the routine I use with my own clients. I send the document first, as a regular PDF, so they can see it. Then we go over it together, on the phone or in person, page by page. Only after that do I send the link to sign it electronically.

When I meet buyers at a house for the first time, I bring the agreement on my iPad and we go over it right there before anyone signs. It takes a few extra minutes. It means my clients know what they agreed to, and it means neither of us has to wonder later.

There’s a line I use in every class I teach: agents aren’t decision makers. We’re trusted advisors. You make every decision. And you can only make good decisions if your agent is completely loyal to you and tells you everything they know that could affect your choice. Going over every document with you before you sign is part of that.

Your agent may do it differently. But they should do it.

Questions to ask before you sign

• “What am I agreeing to pay, and when?”
• “What’s the last day I can change my mind without losing money?”
• “What happens to my money if the deal falls apart?”
• “Is there anything unusual in this one?” If the answer involves special language, that’s a job for a real estate attorney.