INTRODUCTION
On or about November 1, 2025, the Arizona REALTORS® will release a revised version of the following five (5) forms:

• Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract;
• Commercial Real Estate Purchase Contract;
• Vacant Land/Lot Purchase Contract;
• Solar Addendum; and
• Additional Clause Addendum

This three-part series will explain the revisions in detail to ensure that REALTORS® are prepared for these changes.

OVERVIEW
The Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract will include minor revisions to further disclose the possibility that seller concessions may be used by the buyer to pay broker compensation and emphasize consent to allow any broker to be paid by both parties.  For consistency, the Arizona REALTORS® revised its two other real estate purchase contracts using similar, corresponding changes to ensure consistency.  Click here to view the article introducing the revisions to the purchase contracts.  

The Solar Addendum will be heavily revised to address problems encountered by numerous solar companies filing bankruptcy.  The changes move up the timeline for buyers to begin the process of qualifying for an assumption of a solar loan or lease.  Click here to view the article introducing the revisions to the solar addendum.   

The Additional Clause Addendum will contain two new clauses: (i) Offer Initiated By Seller; and (ii) Unrepresented Buyer Notice.

ADDITIONAL CLAUSE ADDENDUM REVISIONS[1]

1. OFFER INITIATED BY SELLER

The new OFFER INITIATED BY SELLER clause can be found on page 3 of the Additional Clause Addendum by clicking here.

The OFFER INITIATED BY SELLER clause can be used by a seller represented by a REALTOR® to make an offer to a buyer utilizing an Arizona REALTORS® purchase contract.  Arizona REALTORS® forms are copyrighted and may not be used by non-REALTORS®.  It is also a violation of the copyright to provide blank copies of Arizona REALTORS® forms to a non-REALTOR®.  Therefore, if a buyer is not represented by a REALTOR® but would like to make an offer, they will either make the offer verbally, by electronic mail, text, or on a contract/paper that was not drafted by the Arizona REALTORS®. 

For sellers that are represented by a REALTOR®, the above options may not meet with their approval.  In such cases, the seller may instead choose to initiate an offer on an Arizona REALTORS® purchase contract, which is an approach that differs from typical transactions in which the buyer initiates the offer.   Because Arizona REALTORS® purchase contracts are designed for use by the buyer when initiating an offer, a new clause has been created to accommodate situations where the seller wishes to present an offer to the buyer using the standard, trusted Arizona REALTORS® purchase contract.

The purpose and goal of any contract is to clearly define the terms of the agreement and express the intent of the parties unambiguously.  The workgroup felt it could prove problematic to combine Arizona REALTORS® forms with texts, emails, scratch paper writings, or foreign contracts.  In other words, the danger of conflicting terms or the absence of important terms within an agreement that combined differently sourced forms or outside writings was too risky and should be avoided. 

To ensure one (1) clean agreement, the first sentence (lines 70-71) of the clause states that “All previous offers and counter offers made by either Seller or Buyer are hereby rejected.”  This wipes the slate clean, so the seller’s offer can be accepted by the buyer and create one (1), definitive, self-contained contract.  When the buyer accepts the seller’s offer, mission accomplished. 

If the buyer does not accept the seller’s offer unconditionally (e.g. the buyer makes a counter offer), the seller’s offer is legally rejected.  So, if the buyer presents a counter offer via email, text, or any non-Arizona REALTORS® form/writing, it is best practice for the seller to initiate a new seller offer in response, even if the material terms of the buyer’s counter offer are acceptable to the seller.  Again, the goal is to end up with one (1) clean, self-contained agreement.  Therefore, the recommended practice is that seller offers should be sent until the buyer accepts an offer unconditionally.  Different seller offers are identified by the date of the offer (line 72).

Line 71 of the clause removes the Terms of Acceptance section of the purchase contract entirely and replaces it with a new Terms of Acceptance section that instructs the buyer on how to accept the seller’s offer.  The listing broker will input the date of the seller’s offer [signed purchase contract] on line 72 and input the date and time for acceptance on line 75.  The remainder of the clause educates the buyer on general contract law:

a) Seller may withdraw the offer prior to buyer acceptance (line 76);

b) Seller’s offer is withdrawn if not accepted by the date/time specified in the offer (lines 76-77);

c) Buyer should initial and sign all pages and sections indicated but failure to initial any page or section does not affect the validity of the purchase contract (lines 78-80);

d) Buyer can accept, reject, or counter seller’s offer (lines 81-82); and

e) Buyer cannot accept the seller’s offer after the buyer makes a counter offer (lines 82-83).

2. UNREPRESENTED BUYER NOTICE

The new UNREPRESENTED BUYER NOTICE clause can be found on page 3 of the Additional Clause Addendum by clicking here.

The UNREPRESENTED BUYER NOTICE clause should be utilized anytime the buyer is not represented.  Notices in Arizona REALTORS® purchase contracts are delivered to the buyer’s broker (Section 8m).  Since the buyer has no broker representation, there is no buyer broker to deliver notices to.  This new additional clause removes the sections of the purchase contract that identify a buyer broker and provides the unrepresented buyer’s consent to receive notices to them in person, by email (if inserted), or by overnight courier service.

Aaron M. Green, Esq., a licensed Arizona attorney, is the General Counsel for the Arizona Association of REALTORS®.  This article is of a general nature and reflects only the opinion of the author at the time it was drafted.  It is not intended as definitive legal advice, and you should not act upon it without seeking independent legal counsel.

Prior Form Revisions

The Arizona REALTORS® strives to keep all its forms up to date as laws change or industry practice evolves.  Once released, the forms library contained on all of the Arizona REALTORS® forms licensing platforms are updated. 

Updates to forms are made to minimize your risk and ensure legal compliance. Don’t take a chance with outdated forms.  Prior Arizona REALTORS® form revisions (2014 – 2025) can be found at:  https://www.aaronline.com/2019/05/20/form-revision-updates/

[1] Thank you to the 2025 Additional Clause Addendum workgroup for their efforts to revise forms.  The workgroup was chaired by Mary Ann Shryack.  Other workgroup members were Martha Appel, Annie Barmore, Nicole Cumbie, Cathy Erchull, Michael Hofstetter, Michael Hunt, Monica Monson and Chey Tor.