Is a purchase contract necessary to buy vacant land

[Billy Rogers]

I have a seller that has agreed to sell me a (small) vacant lot in Texas.   This is my first land deal.  Do I need to get them to sign a purchase agreement and a deed or do I just need the deed?

They live out of state and I plan on sending the documents to a Notary and having them sign the documents with the Notary witnessing the signature.

When I search online I see examples of purchase agreements and deeds.  I'm not sure if I need both.  Do I need both when I record the sale with the county?

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Billy Rogers

You don't need a purchase agreement to make the deal legal.  However, you're going to want to have a title company or lawyer involved to ensure the title is transferred and recorded properly.  Plus, I would want them to conduct a title search just to make sure there are no undisclosed encumbrances on that title.  And, part of the job of the purchase agreement is explaining to the title company exactly who is paying for what.  The other part of the purchase agreement is that without it the seller is not legally bound to sell you the property.  If they pull out without a signed purchase agreement, you have no legal recourse.  Also, if they get a higher offer, before closing, you have no legal recourse. 

Another also...if they have even basic access to the internet, you can signup for a free Adobe account and use their EchoSign service to have the documents eSigned.  That eliminates the whole old school notary thing, and it has been tested in court.

Just grab a copy of the TREC contract for land.  It's free on the TREC site.  Fill it out, scan it in, and use EchoSign to sign that bad boy.