Option To Purchase Real Property Agreement: Fill & Download for Free

A right of first refusal form real estate agreement is one of the types of real estate options that allows buyers to refuse and walk away from a deal. ROFR is an options real estate right arising from a contract. Therefore, in the event of a breach, a holder of the right can sue for damages. If you possess a real estate first right of refusal, you secure the right to oppose another person's attempt to purchase a property. You will have the first option to purchase real estate, and if you choose not to buy, a third party can consider the offer. As long as you do not have the right of first refusal stated in the option contract real estate form, you will have no method to stop others from exercising an option to buy real estate.You can find more detailed information on this topic here - Right of First Refusal Real Estate Forms

First: none of this is intended as advice. I know I have a disclaimer below, but you should check with a lawyer and have that lawyer review all the necessary contracts and local laws before acting on your discovery.The question leaves many facts unstated and potentially unknown. The best course of action may vary greatly based on the legal jurisdiction in which you live. However, in a generic, common law country, the operable information is as follows:Base facts:Discovered Items: Loose Chattel (money)Hidden Safe -- may be chattel or fixtureContents (money) -- chattelValue: $1,000,000 USD + Safe ValueLocation: Your real propertyPotentially operable law (not advice):The safe's nature as a chattel or fixture may change the analysis in some jurisdictions. If it is a fixture and it was not emptied, in some jurisdictions the contents would also be treated as a fixture. If it is chattel, the entirety would be treated as chattel.The money is chattel, with the only potential exception as described above. Unless the real property sale contained a chattel provision as described in the note below, the money would become a "bailment" and the buyer becomes a "bailor". As bailor, you have a duty to the bailee to protect the property and attempt to return it.If the chattel was property of a tenant, it is subject to the landlord-tenant agreement, and you have to attempt to return it.If the chattel was property of the seller, you would have to notify the seller that "Did you leave anything in the home?" In some jurisdictions you would have to tell the seller what you found, but in others you simply have to give notice that there may be something.If the chattel was property of someone else, not tenant or seller, (i.e., prior owner, or someone dumping it there), you have a duty to try and figure out who and notify them.What if you cannot find the owner? With this much money, you may have to notify the local authorities depending on local laws (e.g., could be result of a theft). You may also be required to make public notice of found property (e.g., "Property found at [address], please send a description within 60 days to claim it."Note: Several people suggested it may invalidate the sale of the home. That is unlikely, but it is true that the money may not be subject to the sale of the home. You would have to check your purchase contract, but this is why you should use a standard REIQ contract that forfeits to buyer any chattels not removed from the real property. This should be in the requirement, because in some jurisdictions the default for the sale of real property is to be for the "vacant land" (including fixtures). Some contracts require notification to the seller if loose chattel is found, especially if over a certain value, but others simply put a time limit for the seller to return or hand it over wholesale once possession of the real property is taken.What should I do? If I was you, and I'm not and I do not know what jurisdiction you are in so really cannot advise you about what to do, I would do the following:Take a video of how and where you discovered it, plus photos, to fully document it. Keep all paperwork and write down the story of how you found it for posterity: stick to the truth!Hire a lawyer on contingency, "I found $1 mil, I will pay you $20,000 if you can help me keep it, or 10% of any finders fee if I have to give it away, whichever is less (attorney will say greatest)."Deposit the money in the attorney's trust account, file an IRS Form 8300. (make sure you can trust that attorney!)Notify the seller of "found property", but in vague terms.Notify any prior living owners of the "found property".Notify local law enforcement, with a notice of your claim to the property (e.g., to keep them from taking it). (Note, if your local police are corrupt, you may want to go to a higher LEA). You may be able to do this anonymously via your attorney, if you wish to protect yourself. Watch out for Civil Forfeiture!!Publish a notice, with cooperation of the police, in the local paper for "found property".File a claim against the money to claim possession over it.Hope that nobody can perfect a claim against the property and that the property becomes yours!This pretty much holds true to any finding of chattels. On the otherhand, let's say you buy a house for $100,000, and then find out the chandelier is made of real diamonds worth millions, it is a fixture and you are probably free and clear. Hope for diamonds built into a fixture, not cash!-------------UPDATE: The answers to this question seriously annoy me. Doing the legal thing is by far the simplest, least troublesome, and safest option. Yet people keep insisting that the author should lie, hide, and act with a guilty conscience. Rather than going on about why doing all of those things is utterly stupid, let's just cut to the chase and the news showing what some people who actually had this happen did and the results of those findings:$10 million in gold treasure found buried in California backyard -- not only did they get to keep the money, but they were happy keeping the money.The bad news? IRS wanted its chunk, Couple who found $10m haul of gold coins forced to give half to taxman. Except, you know what, so what? It's still more than you had, plus you have the strong argument that it was an existing condition on the property when you bought it and therefore you actually paid for it, taxes were probably paid for it originally, and thus you can keep it. If anything this reinforces why you should talk to a tax attorney about it.8 People Who Accidentally Found a Fortune - ODDEE #3 here argues a bit in favor of some of the other answers, but again that comes down to an issue of the house's purchase contract and the contractor being the finder.Carson City man leaves behind millions in gold hidden inside his homeThat said, this is why the law of the place you are in matters: $500,000 Found in House Walls Belongs to Estate, Not Homeowners Basically if the prior person who owned that money and sold it knew the money was there, it is yours. If the house had been inherited and it was unknown, but then sold, it might not be yours. However, a lot of courts (go ahead, check out Google Scholar and look for cases on point) have split the difference in those instances. And in other states the homeowners got the money, Who Gets Cash Hidden in House By Deceased Former Owner? It really comes down to what does the deed say and what is the laws of the relevant jurisdiction. i.e., Hire an Attorney.Summary: It really is better be honest and to be prepared to negotiate reasonably. With an honest approach you will likely get to keep some, if not all, of the money. In contrast, with a dishonest approach, even if you have a right to keep it all, you very well could lose it all because you would create suspicions of laundering/etc that would otherwise not exist.

In the real estate investing business, rent to own – also known as lease option or lease to own agreement – is a binding agreement between the real estate property owner (seller) and the tenant (buyer) in which the buyer is allowed to keep renting the real estate investment property for a set time period (usually 1-3 years) before actually purchasing the property and claiming ownership.Upon signing the contract, the seller can’t place the real estate property back on the market for sale during the set time period and agrees to sell the investment property to the tenant when the duration of the contract expires.Advantages of this strategy:Option Money Fee: This is a one-time, non-refundable fee that the tenant pays in advance which is beneficial for the investor in case the agreement is broken or potential buyers change their minds. Additionally, this fee allows the property owner to make a profit when the tenant first moves in, then enjoy the monthly rental income (which is higher than in traditional rental properties – another benefit!).A Guaranteed Sale: As sellers benefit from rental income for the duration of the lease option, they also guarantee that the investment property won’t go vacant during that time. Moreover, they are ensured that the property will be sold which gives them a sense of security for their real estate investment.Less Risky: Since tenants are going to purchase the real estate property that they’re renting, naturally, they will start treating it as their own home (because it will be). This means tenants will contribute towards repair and maintenance costs on the investment property, and they’ll be far less likely to cause damages.Real Estate Agent Aren’t NeededA typical rent to own strategy does not require hiring a real estate agent to find a buyer for the real estate investment property, which eliminates the extra fee that would have been otherwise paid to the agent.Disadvantage of this strategy:The only disadvantage is that if the potential buyer decides not to purchase the investment property, then the property owner will have to start over the process of finding someone to sell the property to. However, this also affects the buyer as he/she will lose all money paid until that point.Real estate investors consider a rent to own option a “win-win” if both parties stick to the terms and conditions of the agreement throughout the set time period and the lease option was not broken. For more information on anything real estate related, make sure to visit Mashvisor’s blog section which includes hundreds of blogs, guides, and tips for real estate investors!For more on rent-to-own, read this: What Is Rent to Own? Everything You Need to Know in One Blog