NWMLS Contracts

As licensed real estate brokers, the Washington State Supreme Court has granted us the authority to “…complete simple, printed, standardized real estate forms, which must be approved by a lawyer” (Cultum vs. Heritage House, 1985). As members of the NWMLS, we are provided with a multitude of attorney drafted contracts which are specifically designed to cover most situations that may arise throughout the course of a real estate transaction. These contracts are often called NWMLS Forms or Statewide Forms.  

The foundation of a real estate contract is the Purchase and Sale Agreement. There are several different Purchase and Sale Agreements which are to be chosen based off the type of property that is being sold (Form 21 – Residential, Form 23 – Manufactured Home, Form 25 – Vacant Land, etc.) These PSA’s can be used as stand-alone contracts to buy and sell real estate, but they offer no protection to the buyer.  

In addition to the Purchase and Sale Agreements, the NWMLS has provided well over 100 addenda, which we use in conjunction with the Purchase and Sale Agreement to formulate an offer that a seller may find enticing enough to accept, while also protecting our buyers. Real estate professionals refer to these addenda by their alpha-numeric names; we highly encourage you do your best to learn the names of the addenda.  

A standard offer may include the PSA and 6 to 10 addenda. For example, an offer in a balanced market may include: Forms 21, 22A, 22D, 22K, 22T, 22Y, 35. Every buyer, home, and situation is different; learning which forms to use in these different scenarios is essential to drafting offers, protecting clients, and closing deals. Designed Realty has created “transaction templates” inside of transaction desk, which you can utilize to ensure you have the correct forms included in your offers. We will go over these templates in a following lesson.   

NWMLS Form Do’s and Don’ts : 

Do’s: 

• Read each form in its entirety until you understand how they work and how they interact with each other. We are held to the standard of care of attorneys: knowing the forms front and back is the first step to ensuring proper care is being taken.  

• Keep an eye out for emails from the NWMLS, as forms are regularly revised and notification of these revisions are sent out via email.  

• Ask questions: if you aren’t sure how a form works, which form to include, what a clause means, etc. ask one of your Managing Brokers or your Designated Broker.  

• Be resourceful. The NWMLS attorneys have provided us with a manual for each form. These manuals can be incredibly helpful while you are learning the ropes.  

• Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/7w-R0O_jIpM 

• If you cannot find your answer, or if you want confirm, ask one of your Managing Brokers or your Designated Broker.  

 Don’ts:  

• Don’t fly by the seat of your pants. If you are unsure about something, ask.  

• Don’t fill out the forms if a seller and buyer have already been identified and just want you to “write the contract” for a fee. This is considered the unlicensed practice of law and is not covered by your E&O insurance. Instead, recommend they hire an attorney to do the paperwork.  

• Don’t distribute the forms to unlicensed individuals, or individuals that are not members of the NWMLS. Headstrong buyers may ask you to send them the forms so they can “do it themselves.” The forms are property of the NWMLS and these individuals do not have permission to use them.