A key element in the practice of real estate is the contract. Experienced practitioners
quickly become conversant with the elements of contract formation. Inquiry, invitation,
offer, counteroffer, contingency, waiver, acceptance, rejection, execution, breach,
rescission, reformation, and other words of art become integral parts of the broker's
vocabulary.
Given the significant degree to which Article 3’s mandate for cooperation—coupled with
everyday practicality, feasibility, and expediency—make cooperative transactions facts
of life, it quickly becomes apparent that in virtually every real estate transaction there
are actually several contracts which come into play. Setting aside ancillary but still
important contracts for things such as mortgages, appraisals, inspections, title
insurance, etc., in a typical residential transaction (and the same will be true in many
commercial transactions as well) there are at least three (and often four) contracts
involved, and each, while established independently of the others, soon appears to be
inextricably intertwined with the others.
