As of August 2024, the Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) spans 21 pages! Compare that to 1978, when it was just a single page. And that doesn’t even include the multi-page addendums for various required disclosures. It seems like a lot! During my over four-decade-long career in real estate, the gradual changes and additions to the contract each year never felt overwhelming. But looking back now, WOW!
The changes to the contract are driven by the Forms Committee of the Colorado Division of Real Estate. Some updates are in response to new federal or Colorado legislation, while others address problems that arose due to a lack of clarity. For example, that early one-page contract didn’t include any inspection provisions. In those “old days,” it was much more of a “buyer beware” approach. Now, looking at the 21-page contract as of August 15, 2024, it’s truly a remarkable document. Having learned about every clause added to the contract over the past 46 years of my real estate career, I have a deep understanding of the situations that led to each change. Sometimes, new clauses are removed the following year because they didn’t work as intended. Ultimately, the Colorado Real Estate Commission’s Standard Form helps buyers and sellers come to agreements that lead to successful closings where everyone leaves happy.
There are many changes to the 2024 contract. Some of them are merely “housekeeping” items or industry terminology changes, and others are changes from the normal course of business. To see them all, here is the Redline version of the Contract to Buy and Sell (Residential), comparing the contract we were using before August 15, 2024, to the one as of August 15, 2024, is available here: drive.google.com/file/d/1Eh9iZOQDyQqAKZUU1fpRB25pZlLoH04w/view.
Go to the link above to see all of them! Remember, Licensed Real Estate Brokers are only licensed to fill out standard forms and are required to advise buyers and sellers to seek legal advice on any legal matters they don’t understand.
Duane graduated with a business degree and a major in real estate from the University of Colorado in 1978. He has been a Realtor® in Boulder since that time. He joined RE/MAX of Boulder in 1982 and has facilitated over 2,500 transactions over his career. Living the life of a Realtor and being immersed in real estate led to the inception of his book, Realtor for Life. For questions, e-mail duaneduggan@boulderco.com, call 303.441.5611 or BoulderPropertyNetwork.com.