The Massachusetts Offer to Purchase Real Estate form is a one-to-two-page document a buyer completes and delivers to a seller to propose a home purchase, and once the seller signs it, you have a binding contract. Two standard versions circulate across the state: one published by the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) and one by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR). They cover the same ground in slightly different layouts. Before you submit anything, understand that the dates and dollar figures you write in are enforceable terms, not placeholders.
Which Form to Use and Where to Get It
If you are working with a buyer’s agent, they will supply the form through their brokerage’s electronic forms library. GBREB maintains its standardized forms through zipLogix and Instanet Solutions, with a complimentary subscription for GBAR members.1Greater Boston Real Estate Board. Electronic Forms MAR publishes its version through MassForms, updated by legal staff.2Massachusetts Association of Realtors. REALTOR Forms If you are buying without an agent, a Massachusetts real estate attorney can provide a form or draft an equivalent document.
The MAR form uses numbered sections (Purchase Price, Duration of Offer, Purchase and Sale Agreement, Closing, Escrow, Contingencies, Representations, Buyer’s Default, Additional Terms) and builds contingencies into Section 6. The GBREB version follows a similar structure but handles contingencies through a separate Contingency Addendum. Either is standard practice.
Filling In the Core Fields
Both versions ask for the same foundational information. Work through these before touching contingencies or special provisions.
- Buyer and seller names. Use full legal names exactly as they appear on government-issued ID. List every buyer if more than one person is purchasing.
- Property description. Enter the street address and, on most forms, the MLS listing number and the approximate square footage of the home and lot.
- Purchase price. The total dollar amount you are offering.
- Initial deposit (binder). The amount delivered with the offer itself. Customarily $1,000, though negotiable.
- Additional deposit. The larger sum due when you sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Together with the binder, this commonly totals about five percent of the purchase price.
- Escrow holder. Who holds the deposit. Only a licensed broker may maintain a real estate escrow account in Massachusetts, and the listing broker’s office is the most common choice.3Mass.gov. RE84RC13 – Escrow / Escrow Agents / Escrow Accounts in Real Estate
- Duration of offer. The window during which the seller can accept. Buyers typically allow 24 to 48 hours.
- Purchase and Sale Agreement date. The deadline for signing the longer P&S, usually 10 to 14 days after offer acceptance.
- Closing date. The target date for the final transfer of ownership. Many transactions aim for 45 to 60 days from the accepted offer, depending on the buyer’s mortgage timeline.
Get the dates right the first time. Both the MAR and GBREB forms include a “time is of the essence” provision, meaning every date you write becomes a firm deadline rather than a rough target.
Setting the Contingencies
Contingencies are your contractual exits. If a condition is not met by its deadline, you can walk away with your deposit. A missing or vague date renders the protection almost useless, so fill each one in with a specific calendar date.
Mortgage Contingency
Enter the loan amount you are seeking and the date by which you must receive a written mortgage commitment. Most buyers set this four to five weeks after acceptance, giving the lender time to underwrite. If you are paying cash, you can strike or waive the clause, but only if your funds are already liquid.
If you are using an FHA loan, the transaction also requires a signed FHA amendatory clause. This federally mandated disclosure gives you the right to cancel and recover your full deposit if the FHA appraisal comes in below the agreed price. Both buyer and seller must sign it before the lender will proceed with FHA financing.
Inspection Contingency
Enter the deadline for completing a professional home inspection. Seven to ten days after acceptance is common. If the inspection turns up significant defects, you can negotiate repairs, request a price reduction, or cancel the deal and recover your deposit.
The GBREB Contingency Addendum has separate lines for radon testing and pest (wood-boring insect) inspection. The MAR form folds these into its general contingency section. If you want those protections, write a specific deadline on each line. Blank lines mean no contractual right to cancel over those findings.
Title V Septic Contingency
For homes with a private septic system, Massachusetts requires an inspection within two years before the sale.4Mass.gov. Buying or Selling Property with a Septic System A failed system can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace. The Title V contingency lets you cancel or shift that cost. If the property is on municipal sewer, this clause does not apply.
Disclosures That Attach at the Offer Stage
Both forms include acknowledgment lines for the disclosures Massachusetts and federal law require. Skipping them creates liability for both sides.
Lead Paint Notification
For any home built before 1978, the seller must provide a Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification before the Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed. The notification discloses known lead hazards, delivers copies of any existing lead inspection reports or compliance letters, and informs the buyer that if a child under six will live in the home, the owner must have lead hazards corrected within 90 days of taking title.5Mass.gov. Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification Both parties sign the certification page.
Federal law adds a parallel requirement under Section 1018 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. The seller must also provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” and include a Lead Warning Statement in the contract, and the buyer gets a minimum 10-day window to conduct a lead paint inspection or risk assessment.6US EPA. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Certificate
Massachusetts requires a certificate of compliance showing that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms meet current standards whenever a home is sold.7Mass.gov. Preparing Your Home for a Smoke and CO Alarm Inspection The seller schedules the inspection with the local fire department and obtains the certificate before closing. The certificate is not part of the offer form itself, but closing cannot proceed without it.
Submitting the Offer
Once the form is complete, your agent delivers it to the listing agent or directly to the seller, along with the binder check. The deposit goes into the escrow holder’s designated account and cannot be cashed or deposited into anyone’s personal account. Massachusetts regulations require escrow funds to be held in a special bank account, and the funds cannot be released without the agreement of both buyer and seller.3Mass.gov. RE84RC13 – Escrow / Escrow Agents / Escrow Accounts in Real Estate
The duration-of-offer field controls the seller’s response window. If the seller does not sign within it, the offer expires and the binder check comes back. If the seller signs a counteroffer that changes price, dates, or contingencies, that is a new proposal, and you are not bound unless you accept the changes in writing. Only when both parties have signed the same terms does a contract exist.
What the Seller’s Signature Commits You To
Massachusetts treats the signed Offer to Purchase as a binding contract for the sale of real estate, not a preliminary step. The Supreme Judicial Court held in McCarthy v. Tobin that an offer describing the property and price, using language showing the parties intend to be bound, and signed by both sides creates an enforceable contract, and that the later Purchase and Sale Agreement is “merely a formality.”8Justia. John J. McCarthy, Jr. vs. Ann G. Tobin The offer also satisfies the Statute of Frauds under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 259, Section 1, which requires contracts for the sale of land to be in writing and signed.9General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 259 Section 1 – Actionable Contracts; Necessity of Writing
If a buyer backs out without a valid contingency to exercise, the seller may retain the deposit as damages under both the MAR and GBREB forms. The money does not release automatically. Both parties must agree on disposition, or the dispute moves to mediation, arbitration, or court. A seller who tries to back out after signing can be ordered by a court to complete the sale through specific performance.
What to Do Immediately After Acceptance
Once the seller signs, you have a short, active window before the P&S is due. Three things need to happen at once.
Hire a real estate attorney now if you have not already. Massachusetts law requires attorney involvement at closing, and your attorney will draft or review the Purchase and Sale Agreement, examine the title, and handle the closing.10Mass.gov. The Homebuying Process in Massachusetts Waiting until after the P&S is signed is a common and expensive mistake. The offer already binds you.
Schedule the home inspection and any specialized inspections (radon, pest, septic) right away. Contingency clocks run from the date of acceptance, and inspectors in busy markets can book a week or more out.
Push the mortgage application forward. The lender needs the executed offer and property details to open formal underwriting. The mortgage contingency deadline is a hard date: if you do not have a commitment letter by then, you need to negotiate an extension in writing or exercise the contingency.
When the Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed, your additional deposit comes due and goes into escrow, and the transaction proceeds toward the closing date written on the offer.