Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Vendor and Purchaser

The legal relationship between the buyer and the seller of land during the interim period between the execution of the contract and the date of its consummation.

The sale of real property is treated differently by the law than the sale of PERSONAL PROPERTY. The relationship between the seller and the buyer has traditionally been labeled that of vendor and purchaser. A contract to sell real property (for example, a house, a building, farmland, or a vacant lot) does not automatically mean the sale will be consummated. The vendor will be required to prove that she can convey a marketable title to the land.

A contract for the sale of real property is executed when the vendor and the purchaser sign an agreement in which the vendor promises to convey ownership of the property to the purchaser, who promises to pay an agreed sum. The contract is...