Agreement to Sell — Buyer & Seller (Word draft)

The agreement to sell is the document that actually governs a property transaction. The sale deed transfers title at the end; the agreement to sell is what both parties live under for the two or three months in between.

It is also where deals are saved or lost. What happens if the buyer's loan is refused, if the title check throws up a problem, if the seller cannot deliver vacant possession on time, or if either side simply walks — all of that belongs here, in writing, before the token is paid.

This draft covers each of those explicitly, including a mutual default clause rather than the one-sided forfeiture wording that circulates widely.

What is in the file

• Parties, property schedule, and the full consideration in figures and words
• A payment schedule table with dates, tied to milestones rather than to hope
• Title covenants — what the seller warrants, and the documents to be produced
• A loan contingency: what happens if the buyer's sanction is refused or comes in short
• A title contingency: what happens if the buyer's lawyer finds a defect
• Vacant possession, the possession date, and dues cleared up to it
• A mutual default clause — forfeiture on one side, refund with compensation on the other
• TDS, stamp duty and registration responsibilities, including the higher NRI-seller position

Never pay a token without this

A token paid against a WhatsApp message and a handwritten receipt is how buyers lose money. Whatever is agreed about refundability has to be written down before the money moves, because afterwards the seller has the money and the leverage.

The two contingencies are the point

A loan contingency gives the buyer a defined exit with their money back if financing genuinely fails — and gives the seller a deadline rather than an open-ended wait. A title contingency does the same if the lawyer finds a defect in the chain.

Sellers sometimes resist these. The honest answer is that a buyer whose loan is refused cannot complete anyway; the only question is whether the parties argue about it or follow a clause they both agreed.

Make the default clause mutual

The version that circulates forfeits the buyer's advance on default and says nothing about the seller walking away. That is not a balanced agreement and a buyer's lawyer will say so. This draft provides for both directions.

Address TDS explicitly, especially with an NRI seller

Purchases from a non-resident carry a substantially higher withholding obligation on the buyer, who also needs a TAN. Silence on this is how a transaction stalls in its final fortnight.

Questions

This is a working template, not legal, tax or financial advice. Requirements differ by state and by transaction — have a lawyer and a chartered accountant confirm anything that matters before you or a client rely on it.