Writing Your Own Contracts: A Cautionary Tale
Real estate investors often fall prey to the lure of saving money in the short term. Instead of thinking about the big-picture interests of their business, they cut corners to save on filing fees, administrative costs, attorneys fees, and more. One of the strongest temptations is to download contracts from the internet or, even worse, to write them yourself. Is writing your own contracts a good idea? Well, I can tell you this: many of our clients at Anderson Business Advisors went this route and are now trying to dig themselves out from the consequences. Learn From ‘Dan’s Mistakes One of these clients is a man I‘ll call Dan. I share his story in my book, , but I’d like to retell it here as an example of why writing your own contracts may not be the best idea since the tethered gas cap. Dan wanted to enter a lease option with a tenant of his. A lease option is an arrangement that allows a tenant to lease your property and buy it later if they choose. The tenant typically pays an upfront option payment to secure the rights to buy the property. If they fail to buy the property at the end of the









