Clear, mutually acceptable agreements are an essential component of the legal transference of ownership. In the practice of real estate, contracts are the instruments used to describe and record the agreements made during the conveyance of property. A contract is nearly always involved, whether a salesperson is promising to sell a property within a specified period of time, a prospective buyer is placing an offer on a house, or a seller is considering an offer on a property.

Before entering into a legally binding agreement, real estate professionals must fully understand the contracts that govern their industry. A failure to understand contracts can leave a licensee vulnerable to various kinds of liability and litigation and can also lead to damage to their professional reputation. Therefore, it is vital that real estate professionals clearly understand contracts and contractual language so that they can protect themselves and their clients against errors, oversights, and misunderstandings.

It is imperative that licensees be competent and knowledgeable when using the forms and contracts provided by the Arizona Association of REALTORS^®. These forms have been created to assist the licensee in protecting the interests of their clients and to avoid misunderstandings, which can lead to Mediation, Arbitration, or Litigation. The forms provided by AAR are today's "Standard of Practice." Should problems arise and should the agent not utilize the current Standard of Practice, the agent could have liability. This course will review the AAR Contract and Addendums, as well as other forms crucial to the residential transaction.

We will also review the basics of general contracts as well as the different kinds of real estate contracts. The course begins by providing the student with an overview of the various types of contracts: bilateral, unilateral, implied, express, executed, executory, valid, void, voidable, and unenforceable. Once the student is introduced to the different types of contracts, he or she learns what makes a contract legally enforceable. There are six components that make a real estate contract in Arizona valid: in writing, competent parties, mutual assent, consideration, lawful objective, and legal description.