Unilateral Contract in Real Estate: Free Template PDF & Examples

A unilateral contract in real estate is an agreement where only one party makes a promise, and the other party accepts by doing something instead of promising to do it. Options, open listings, and finder’s fees all work this way.

The person making the promise is on the hook. The other side can walk away anytime, owes nothing, and gets paid only if they deliver.

That setup is perfect for paying people who bring you deals. It’s also where investors get into legal trouble, so I’ll cover the licensing rules in detail below, right after the free template.

Download Our Free Unilateral Contract Template

Our free template is a Finder’s Fee Agreement, the unilateral contract investors sign most often. You promise a fee, and the finder earns it only by bringing you a property that meets your criteria. The finder never has to find anything.

The template includes a Property Submission Form so every lead arrives in writing, with a date, and with a clear yes or no from you.

How to Use the Template

1. Name the parties. You’re the investor. The person scouting deals is the finder.
2. Set your criteria. Check the property types, write in your areas and price range, and check the owner situations you want.
3. Pick your fee. Choose an information fee (paid when you accept a submission), a closing fee (paid after you buy), or both.
4. Set the protection window. Write in how many months after acceptance you’ll still owe a closing fee.
5. Confirm license status. The finder checks whether they hold a real estate license. This box matters more than any other, and I explain why in the licensing section.
6. Set an end date. Pick a date when your offer expires. You can still end it early in writing.
7. Sign, then collect a W-9. Get the finder’s IRS Form W-9 before you pay any fee.

The criteria section does most of the work. I give every finder a short sheet on the signs of a motivated seller, so they bring me owners who need to sell, not just ugly houses.

Be specific about who you want. The template works best when you spell out the types of motivated sellers you buy from, like probate, pre-foreclosure, or tired landlords.

What Is a Unilateral Contract in Real Estate?

A unilateral contract in real estate is a contract where one party promises something in exchange for the other party’s performance, not in exchange for a return promise. Only one party makes a promise, and the other accepts by performing a specific act (Barnes Walker, 2026).

The contract has two roles. The offeror makes the promise. The offeree decides whether to perform.

Signing doesn’t make the deal. Performance does: you accept a unilateral contract only by completing the action the offer asks for, not by promising or signing (Malbek, 2026).

That has a practical side most people miss. Nobody can sue a finder for not finding. If you sign a finder’s fee agreement and your finder never sends you a single house, you have no claim against them, because they never promised to send one.

Unilateral vs. Bilateral Contract in Real Estate

In a bilateral contract, both sides make binding promises to each other. In a unilateral contract, only one side does. Here’s how common real estate contracts sort out.

A standard purchase agreement is bilateral because the buyer promises to pay and the seller promises to transfer ownership (Malbek, 2026). A lease option stays unilateral until the tenant exercises the option (PrepAgent, n.d.).

Unilateral Contract Examples in Real Estate

The five most common unilateral contracts in real estate are option contracts, lease options, open listing agreements, commission promises to agents, and finder’s fee agreements. Each one binds a single party until the other side performs.

Option Contracts

An option contract in real estate is the classic example, because the seller is locked in while the buyer keeps the choice. The seller promises to sell, and the buyer may or may not exercise the option (Barnes Walker, 2026). Once the buyer exercises, the deal turns bilateral and both sides have to close.

Lease Options

A lease option pairs a rental with a one-way right to buy. Lease options show up most with tired landlords, who want a tenant-buyer to take over the property without committing to a sale date.

Open Listing Agreements

An open listing is a promise by a seller to pay a commission to whichever agent brings a buyer. The seller can sign open listings with several agents at once, and none of those agents has to do anything (Certinal, 2025).

Agents don’t love them. Agents who work expired listings usually push the owner toward an exclusive listing instead, because an open listing only pays whoever brings the buyer first.

Commission Promises to Agents

An owner might promise to pay a commission only if an agent finds a buyer (Terry Dale Capital, 2024). For sale by owner sellers often make this kind of offer to buyer’s agents, promising a fee only if one of their clients closes.

Finder’s Fees and Bird-Dog Deals

A finder’s fee agreement is a promise by an investor to pay someone for bringing them a property. The finder, often called a bird dog, spots a vacant house, a code violation, or an owner in trouble, and passes the information along.

Finder’s fees are common in wholesaling real estate, where investors pay bird dogs to bring them off-market properties. Fees for this kind of work typically range from $500 to $5,000 (REI Prime, n.d.).

This is the example that gets investors in the most trouble, because the finder’s fee sits right on the line between paying for information and paying someone to act as a real estate broker. I cover that line in the enforceability section below.

When Does a Unilateral Contract Become Binding?

A unilateral contract becomes binding on the promisor once the other party starts performing, and the promisor has to pay once the other party finishes. Before performance starts, the promisor can usually back out.

That “once they start” rule comes from the Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 45, which most courts follow. When an offer invites acceptance by performance, an option contract forms as soon as the offeree begins the invited performance (CALI, 2015). The promisor still owes nothing until the performance is complete, but can no longer pull the offer out from under someone who already started.

In a finder deal, “starting” is fuzzy. Does driving a neighborhood count? Pulling county records? That’s why the template defines performance as one specific act: delivering a written Property Submission. Until the finder sends one, nothing is owed. Once they send one that meets your criteria, you owe the fee you promised.

Can a Unilateral Contract Be Revoked?

Yes, before the other party starts performing. After that, courts in most states won’t let a revocation reach performance already underway (gc.ai, 2026).

If you want to end a finder arrangement, do it in writing and date it. The template spells out that ending the offer doesn’t cancel fees on properties the finder already submitted, which keeps you on the right side of that rule.

Are Unilateral Contracts Enforceable in Real Estate?

Yes. Unilateral contracts are as enforceable as any other kind (PandaDoc, 2026), and any contract involving the sale of land still needs to be in writing (Barnes Walker, 2026).

The bigger question for investors is whether the arrangement is legal in the first place. With options and open listings, that’s rarely an issue. With finder’s fees, it’s the whole issue.

Do You Need a License to Get a Finder’s Fee?

In many states, yes. State licensing laws define a real estate broker broadly, and paying someone to find properties or prospects can make that person an unlicensed broker.

Texas is one of the strictest. Its law defines a broker to include anyone who, for compensation, procures or assists in procuring a prospect to effect the sale of real estate (Texas Real Estate Research Center, 2025). The same definition also covers anyone who procures or assists in procuring property (Texas Occupations Code, 2024). A bird dog who finds you a house and gets paid fits that description.

The consequences are real in Texas. The Texas Real Estate Commission can act against both the unlicensed person who took the fee and the license holder who paid it, and unlicensed activity is a class A misdemeanor (Texas Real Estate Research Center, 2025).

Florida uses similar language. Its definition of broker covers anyone who procures or assists in procuring prospects and expects compensation for it (Florida Statutes, 2024). Florida licensees can lose their license for paying an unlicensed person for referrals, and the statute declares an unlicensed person’s contract for a commission invalid (Florida Statutes, 2024).

California allows a narrow exception. The state Attorney General has said a broker may pay an unlicensed person only if that person doesn’t solicit clients or take part in the transaction beyond making the introduction (Mashian Law Group, n.d.).

Other states fall somewhere along that range. The rules that decide whether you need a real estate license to wholesale often decide what you can legally pay a finder, so check both for every state you buy in.

Information Fee vs. Closing Fee

A fee tied to a closing carries the most risk. Industry guidance warns that unlicensed people usually can’t receive a fee contingent on a residential transaction closing (Propphy, 2026).

An information fee works differently. You pay a flat amount for each property submission you accept, whether or not you ever buy the house. You’re paying for data, not for a result, which looks less like brokerage.

That’s why the template lets you choose. I’d default to the information fee with an unlicensed finder, and save closing fees for finders who hold a license.

Where RESPA Comes In

RESPA, the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, bans fees for referring settlement service business on loans covered by the law (eCFR, 2026). Settlement services include lending, title work, inspections, appraisals, and agent services.

A finder who brings you a property isn’t referring a settlement service. A finder who also steers you to a particular lender or title company for a kickback is. The template bars the finder from taking money from those providers, and bars you from paying the finder for referring them.

How to Keep a Finder Arrangement Clean

You can’t make a finder’s fee legal in a state that prohibits it. You can structure the arrangement so it stays on the right side of the line where the law allows it:

• Ask about the license first. A licensed finder can usually do more, and in some states you’ll pay them through their sponsoring broker.
• Limit unlicensed finders to information. They find properties, gather public records, and make introductions if the owner agrees. They don’t negotiate, present offers, or give value opinions.
• Don’t call it a commission. Call it a finder’s fee or an information fee, and describe what you’re paying for.
• Pay from your own funds. Pay the finder directly, not through a lender or agent.
• Collect a W-9. Report payments to the IRS as the law requires.
• Talk to a local attorney. Have a real estate attorney in each state you buy in review the agreement once. It’s a small cost next to a licensing complaint.

Why Do Investors Use Unilateral Contracts?

Investors use unilateral contracts because they pay only for results. A finder costs nothing until they deliver. An option costs only the fee until you decide. An open listing lets a seller test the market without locking into one agent.

A finder network is one of the cheapest ways to get real estate leads, because you never pay for the ones that go nowhere.

My own rule is simple. I pay for accepted submissions, never for a raw address list. A finder who has to meet written criteria to get paid sends me better leads than one who gets paid for volume.

Other Real Estate Contracts

Most real estate deals run on bilateral contracts, and investors use a handful of them regularly:

• Purchase agreement
• Option contract
• Wholesale contract
• FSBO contract
• Option contract

Final Thoughts

A finder can bring you ten houses a month, but only motivated seller leads turn into signed contracts. The contract is the easy part. The seller who needs to sell is the hard part.

If you’d rather skip the scouting, you can browse verified motivated seller leads on the exchange. The team verifies every lead before it goes live, so you pay for owners who are ready to talk.

References

1. Barnes Walker, 2026. Unilateral Contract: in Real Estate.
2. CALI, 2015. Revocation of Offers (Contracts Doctrine, Theory and Practice).
3. Certinal, 2025. Unilateral Contracts: Definition, Examples and Applications.
4. eCFR, 2026. 12 CFR 1024.14: Prohibition Against Kickbacks and Unearned Fees.
5. Florida Statutes, 2024. Chapter 475: Real Estate Brokers, Sales Associates, Schools, and Appraisers.
6. gc.ai, 2026. Unilateral vs. Bilateral Contract: Definitions and Examples.
7. Malbek, 2026. Unilateral vs Bilateral Contract Management.
8. Mashian Law Group, n.d. Navigating Real Estate Referral Fees.
9. PandaDoc, 2026. What Is a Unilateral Contract?.
10. PrepAgent, n.d. Bilateral vs Unilateral.
11. Propphy, 2026. Real Estate Referral Fees Guide 2026.
12. REI Prime, n.d. Bird Dog Fee in Real Estate Investing.
13. Terry Dale Capital, 2024. Unilateral Contracts in Commercial Real Estate.
14. Texas Occupations Code, 2024. Section 1101.002: Definitions.
15. Texas Real Estate Research Center, 2025. Understanding Real Estate Referrals in Texas.