Buying and selling a home is complicated enough without raising legal issues. Still, the law is there for a reason. In this article, we focus on one issue that is vital to protecting you whether you are buying or selling.

Buyers and sellers almost always enter real estate deals with the best of intentions. Ah, but then an issue comes up in an inspection. The parties usually orally agree to a solution only to start arguing about it when the deal closes.

One of the things we are taught early on in life is that we have to keep our word. If you went to Catholic school, this lesson was often enforced with a whack on the knuckles!

This rule is, frankly a good one that we should all follow. If you are reading this real estate article, you are probably an adult and know the world just does not work this way. It is a sad, but accurate truth that the notion means nothing in court either.

Assume that I am selling my home. I get an offer from a buyer. After going back and forth, we agree to a price. The buyer, however, also wants me to throw in money for upgrading all the plumbing in the home. I agree and we shake on it.

Escrow is about to close and you get a demand for $35,000 to fix the problem. I think a few grand will cover it. Given the massive gap in dollar figures, the deal fails to close and we end up in court arguing over the situation.

During trial, a funny thing happens. Both of us give our side of the story, but neither has any hard evidence to show we are right. Given this fact, how is a jury supposed to figure out the party that is correct?

It is going to be difficult. At best, the court or a jury is going to pick the party they believe or has the best lawyer. While this will resolve the dispute, it has no bearing on what actually happened and is hardly a just decision.

No state wants to deal with these types of cases, so all have passed a law called the statute of frauds. This law says any oral promise with a value of more than a certain amount is simply void as a matter of law. The dollar figure used ranges from $500 to $1,000.

So, how does this impact you? Well, you have to realize that anything that is promised to you during a real estate deal is worthless unless it is in writing. If it is in writing and signed by the other party, it is enforceable.

Ah, but what if the other party takes offense at your lack of trust? The cold, hard fact is that is their problem, not yours. Do you really want to risk thousands of dollars in potential losses? If not, demand they put it in writing.