"A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."--SAMUEL GOLDWYN (1882-1974), AMERICAN FILMMAKER

IF YOU'VE HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF BUYING A HOME, YOU are surely familiar with the "standard" contract forms that real estate agents pull out as soon as you say you want to make an offer. That's fine as long as you realize that in fact there's no such thing as a "standard" contract. Every real estate transaction is unique. Each purchase contract is the written representation of the meeting of the minds between the buying party and the selling party. The printed contract form is just a good starting point.

But what is the starting point? What's in these "standard" ...