The Arkansas offer and acceptance form is the standard residential purchase contract produced by the Arkansas Realtors® Association (ARA), and in almost every case you’ll get it from your real estate agent rather than downloading it yourself. Once both the buyer and seller sign, it becomes a binding contract setting the price, financing terms, inspection rights, and closing date. The sections below walk through where to obtain the form and what each part of it asks you to decide.
Where to Get the Form
The ARA sells the form directly to licensed Arkansas real estate brokers, both members and non-members, through its paper and electronic forms ordering system. Non-member brokers receive a version without the Realtor® logo but with identical legal content. The ARA’s ordering agreement prohibits brokers from giving, reselling, or transferring the forms to anyone who isn’t a licensed Arkansas broker.1Arkansas Realtors® Association. Arkansas Realtors Association – Paper Forms Order Form
If you’re buying or selling without an agent, you won’t have access to this form through normal channels. For-sale-by-owner transactions sometimes use a generic purchase agreement drafted by a real estate attorney instead. The Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC) publishes licensing and regulatory documents but does not provide a standard purchase contract.2Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Forms – Arkansas Real Estate Commission
Parties and Property Description
The top of the form asks for the full legal names of all buyers and all sellers, exactly as they appear on government-issued identification. Every person who holds an ownership interest in the property should be listed on the seller side. Leaving out a co-owner creates a title defect that can stall or kill the closing. On the buyer side, list every person who will appear on the new deed.
The property section requires a legal description, not just the street address. For platted subdivisions this is usually a lot-and-block reference; for rural land it may be a metes-and-bounds description. Arkansas county circuit clerks require the legal description on any document filed for recording.3Washington County, AR. Documents Filed, Fees, and Requirements You can pull it from the seller’s existing deed, the county assessor’s website, or a preliminary title search.
Purchase Price and Earnest Money
Write the total purchase price in both numbers and words. If the two don’t match, the written-out amount generally controls. It sounds old-fashioned, but it prevents fights over a transposed digit.
The earnest money section records the buyer’s good-faith deposit. Amounts vary with the market, but one to three percent of the purchase price is common. The form also names who will hold the funds, typically a title company or the listing broker’s trust account. Under AREC regulations, a broker who receives earnest money must deposit it in a trust account or deliver it to an escrow agent within three days of both parties signing. The trust account must sit at an FDIC-insured institution, stay separate from the broker’s operating funds, and be labeled as a trust or escrow account.4Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Regulation Sections 8 and 10 – Arkansas Real Estate Commission
AREC rules also control when the deposit comes out of that account. A broker may release earnest money after an offer is rejected, after an unaccepted offer is withdrawn, at closing, by written agreement of all parties, by court order, or through an interpleader action when the parties can’t agree who gets the money.4Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Regulation Sections 8 and 10 – Arkansas Real Estate Commission Releasing it in any other way violates commission rules.
Financing Contingency
The financing section describes how the buyer plans to pay. The form lists options for the common loan types including FHA, VA, and conventional. Fill in the loan amount, the maximum interest rate you’re willing to accept, and the loan term. If you can’t secure financing on those terms, the contingency lets you walk away and recover the earnest money.
Cash buyers still need to complete this section. Check the cash option and cross out the financing language. Leaving the section blank creates ambiguity about whether a financing contingency exists at all.
Appraisal Gap
If the lender’s appraisal comes in below the purchase price, the buyer faces a gap between what the lender will finance and what the contract requires them to pay. An appraisal contingency lets the buyer cancel and keep the earnest money in that situation. Without one, the buyer has to cover the shortfall out of pocket.
In competitive markets some buyers add an appraisal gap clause committing to cover a set dollar amount of any shortfall, which reassures the seller the deal won’t collapse over a low number. Other responses to a low appraisal include renegotiating down to the appraised value, splitting the difference, or challenging the appraisal itself when the appraiser used weak comparables or made measurement errors.
Inspection Contingency and Repair Limit
The inspection section gives the buyer a window to hire professionals to evaluate structural, electrical, plumbing, roofing, and pest conditions. Enter the number of days the buyer has to complete inspections and the repair limit, which is the maximum dollar amount the seller agrees to spend fixing issues the inspections uncover.
The repair limit is where most negotiations happen. If repair costs come in above the agreed limit, the contract typically lets the buyer cancel, lets the seller agree to additional repairs, or opens the door to renegotiation. Check the appropriate boxes to preserve those rights. Failing to check them, or letting the inspection period expire without acting, can be treated as waiving the contingency entirely.
Seller Disclosures
Arkansas has no state statute requiring sellers to complete a property disclosure form. Most brokerages require one anyway as part of the listing, and failing to disclose known defects can still expose a seller to fraud claims after closing. Sellers should disclose material problems they know about, including foundation issues, water intrusion, mold, roof damage, and faulty wiring, whether or not a statute compels them.
Federal law adds one mandatory disclosure that applies everywhere. For any home built before 1978, the seller must give the buyer a lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” before the contract is signed. The seller must share any records about known lead-based paint hazards and give the buyer a ten-day period to conduct a lead inspection. The buyer can waive that inspection period, but the disclosure itself is not optional. Both parties sign the lead disclosure and keep a copy for at least three years.5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards Homes built in 1978 or later, zero-bedroom units, and housing certified lead-free are exempt.
Submitting the Offer and Handling Counteroffers
Once the buyer signs, the offer goes to the seller’s agent. Electronic submission through a transaction management platform is the most common delivery method and creates an automatic record of when the offer was sent and received. Paper delivery still works but requires a signed receipt to prove the seller’s side actually got it.
The form sets a deadline for the seller to respond. If the seller accepts, both signatures create a binding contract. If the seller changes any term, whether price, closing date, repairs, or contingency period, the response is a counteroffer, which voids the original and starts a new response clock for the buyer. The back-and-forth continues until both sides agree or someone walks.
The standard ARA form includes a “time is of the essence” clause, which converts every date in the contract into a hard deadline rather than a loose target. Arkansas courts have occasionally relaxed strict enforcement when applying it would create serious hardship,6Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Failed or Delayed Closing Can Cause Dilemma for Sellers but treat every deadline as real. Missing a contingency deadline generally means losing that contingency’s protection, and walking away after it expires puts your earnest money at risk and can expose you to a breach-of-contract claim. If you need more time, request an extension in writing before the deadline arrives.
Closing Date, Costs, and Transfer Tax
The closing section sets the closing date and allocates specific costs. Typical costs include title search fees, title insurance premiums, lender fees, recording fees, and prorated property taxes. Thirty to forty-five days from execution is a common closing window, giving time for loan processing, title work, and scheduling.
Two title insurance policies may come into play. A lender’s policy protects the mortgage company and is almost always required by the lender but paid for by the buyer. An owner’s policy protects the buyer’s equity and lasts as long as the buyer or their heirs own the property.7First American. Types of Title Insurance Policies: Owner vs Lender Who pays for the owner’s policy varies by local custom and should be written into the contract.
Arkansas charges a real property transfer tax of $3.30 per $1,000 of the actual sale price on any transaction exceeding $100.8Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Real Property Transfer Tax On a $250,000 home that comes to $825. The contract should specify whether the buyer or seller covers it. The cost is negotiable, though in many Arkansas counties the seller traditionally pays.
Dispute Resolution Clause
Many versions of the ARA contract include a dispute resolution clause specifying how disagreements are handled, usually mediation first and then arbitration or litigation if mediation fails. Mediation uses a neutral third party who helps the buyer and seller reach a compromise but has no power to impose one. Arbitration puts the decision in the hands of an arbitrator whose ruling is typically binding. Without an alternative dispute resolution clause, the parties are left to negotiate directly or file a lawsuit.
Read this section before signing. Agreeing to binding arbitration means giving up the right to go to court. Some buyers and sellers prefer that tradeoff because arbitration is faster and cheaper than litigation, but it’s worth understanding what you’re agreeing to before signing the form.