Once agreement has been reached on the price and other conditions of the purchase, the details are recorded in a contract, which is signed by the buyer. Usually the agent takes this contract and perhaps even several contracts from several potential purchasers, to the owner for acceptance.

The agent must give a copy of the signed contract to the buyer. However it is not a binding contract until it is accepted by the vendor and a Form 1 notice has been given to the purchaser.

The most often used contract is a standard form contract approved by the Real Estate Institute of South Australia. Even this contract should be checked by someone with special knowledge of real estate contracts - especially if any term has been deleted from, or added to, the contract to suit the individual circumstances. If the land agent claims that 'this is an improvement that we find more suitable and that everyone now uses', or if the land agent insists on using a contract drafted 'by our lawyers to suit our clients', expert advice should definitely be sought.

The terms and conditions of the Real Estate Institute's standard form contract are discussed and explained in order in the following pages. The first page of the standard form contract is the contract note, which sets out details (usually filled in by the land agent), such as: