The REPC Is a Leagally Binding Document

To start out this post, it is best to understand that when a buyer submits a REPC to a seller, the buyer is committing his or herself to the terms of the contract and a seller who then accepts the REPC submitted is committing his or herself to those same terms. While there are always legal challenges to contracts that work their way through the courts, the Utah REPC is fairly battle hardened, meaning it has been challenged many times and edited to accommodate those challenges over many years. What that means for you and your real estate agent is it is best to abide by the terms of the contract than to spend and potentially waste tons of money fighting it out in the courts. The terms are actually fairly straightforward and very easy to follow. Let's take a look at some points of interest in this contract.

What Is Earnest Money?

Here we are in the very first paragraph of the REPC and we are introduced to a term called "earnest money". What is earnest money? Earnest money is the funds a potential buyer is offering to the seller to essentially take their home off the market and allow the potential buyer to complete the purchase. This paragraph also states that once the contract is accepted by both buyer and seller that the buyer then has 4 calendar days from acceptance of the contract to provide the seller's brokerage with the earnest money. The amount of money offered as earnest money and those 4 calendary days matter. Quite often, the amount of earnest money needed to make the REPC appealing to a seller will vary greatly from year to year and sometimes from month to month. Your real estate agent should be familiar with what currently constitutes a good offer with earnest money and provide that guidance to the buyer as they write up the contract. In addition, the buyer's agent should be prompt in securing the earnest money from the buyer and getting it over to the seller's agent as soon as possible to avoid going beyond the stated 4 calendar days.

What Is Considered "Included" In a Home Sale?

This might sound straightforward, but as you will see in the REPC section 1.1, this is something that has needed to be spelled out thoroughly over the years to avoid any confusion. Here is what is currently shown in the list of "included items" as of the time of this blog post in this section: "plumbing, heating, air conditioning fixtures and equipment; solar panels; ovens, ranges and hoods; cook tops; dishwashers; ceiling fans; water heaters; water softeners; light fixtures and bulbs; bathroom fixtures and bathroom mirrors; all window coverings including curtains, draperies, rods, window blinds and shutters; window and door screens; storm doors and windows; awnings; satellite dishes; all installed TV mounting brackets; all wall and ceiling mounted speakers; affixed carpets; automatic garage door openers and accompanying transmitters; security system; fencing and any landscaping." As you can see, there is not much left that is uncovered. The idea behind this is to avoid having a buyer go through the home and see something critical to the purchase of the home, go under contract, and then go to move in only to find that the seller took away the ceiling fans or the water softener when they left. This gets both the buyer and seller on the same page. Both the buyer's and seller's agents should be advising their clients on this part so there is no confusion at settlement and closing.