House purchase contract signing Saturday! What forms? Contract?

[Cath T.]

I've got a homeowner ready to sell his single family house to me in Sonoma County, California. :) We are signing papers on Saturday morning so I need to prepare the purchase contract. It is not on the market and we are not going through any agents...  

Can I use real estate agency CAR forms and just not check the broker/agent boxes... ? Should I? It is complete with all of the time frames for documentation, inspections, and deposits and stuff, which is nice, but lots of boilerplate as well. I need a 30 day escrow to do inspections and finalize my loan, figured 3% of purchase price for good faith split between 2 deposits. Our transfer fees, title fees, etc. responsibilities will be the standard defaults. 

Been reviewing a bunch of contract templates in BP FilePlace and google and am familiar with the requirements for the contract, figuring on putting one together with my terms and timelines and having a lawyer or real estate agent look it over. The seller's attorney will also be reviewing it after we sign. 

Do you have a preferred contract outline that you have used to share with me? :) Do I need to do disclosures with the purchase contract as well? 

Thanks for advice and input :) 

[Nick G.]

@Cath T. Veteran investors in your shoes either have a license or a good agent. Two people with no clue of how to put together a contract is a recipe for disaster. You would be wise to find a decent agent who will broker the transaction for a reduced fee and represent you both, and split the cost.

You're doing a real estate transaction in the most litigious and law-choked state of the union. At least do it wisely. Most people wouldn't represent themselves in a court case with a multi-hundred thousand dollar issue on the line, so why would you do it in real estate?

Just my two cents.