INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Every state and country has different laws that regulate how purchase offers are made. For example, in some U.S. states, only a lawyer can draft a legal offer. If you need to hire a lawyer, contact your local or state bar association and ask for a referral to a real estate lawyer. Your jurisdiction might have a form local real estate agents use. You can get a copy by contacting your state's Department of Real Estate or by searching online. Because the law often changes, any form you find might be slightly dated. For this reason, you might want to have a lawyer review your purchase offer before you submit it to the seller. A valid purchase offer should identify the address of the property and sometimes include the legal description, which you can find on a deed. Without this information, the contract will not be valid. You can get the description from the title company, and then both parties will need to sign it. A purchase offer must also include details about what you will pay for the house and how. Include the following information: Your proposed purchase price. Whether it is an all-cash transaction or one that is subject to a mortgage. The amount of your earnest money deposit. Generally, this is 1-3% of the purchase price. Also explain how it will be returned to you if the seller rejects your offer. Contingencies protect you. Include any of the following contingencies that apply to your situation: You might not be able to buy unless you get financing, so include that contingency if necessary. You'll definitely want a satisfactory home inspection soon after making your offer. You can back out if the inspection reveals problems. You'll want an appraisal and the right to back out if it comes in less than the purchase price. You might need to sell your home before you can make the purchase. If so, include that contingency. You may also want to have an insurance contingency, and certain repairs may need to be made before you can get insurance coverage. Be aware that all types of contingencies have deadlines, so you will need to know when they are to avoid defaulting. An offer isn't good forever. Instead, you get to decide how long it is good for. Talk with your agent and discuss what is typical for your area. For example, a bid might be good for a couple of days or only a few hours. In a hot market, a shorter deadline is best. This will prevent another buyer from sneaking in and making a competing offer. Purchase offers contain a lot of conditions meant to protect you in the sale. Make sure your purchase offer includes the following: Reserve the right to walk through the property before closing. Request that the seller provide clear title. Allocate who will pay for the survey, inspection, title insurance, etc. State the type of deed the seller will grant you. Divide up the real estate taxes, utility bills, fuel bills, etc. For example, if you close at the end of June, you might want the seller to pay half of the tax bill for the year. Include any other provision required by your state law. If the seller accepts your offer, then the purchase offer becomes a binding contract (subject to your contingencies). Because of this, you need to thoroughly review all of the information you've included. Meet with a lawyer if you have questions. If your initial offer is lower than the asking price, consider explaining your reasoning. Draw up a list of comps and explain why you used them to set your bid. The seller's agent must give the seller anything you submit. In a hot real estate market, you need to stand out. One way to do that is to tell the seller your story. Write a letter of interest in which you describe yourself, your family, and why you are interested in the house. Try to form a connection with the seller. Perform basic Internet research and find out where they went to school or work. Social media accounts should tell you whether they have family. Also explain what you loved about the house and the neighborhood. Sellers want to know that their buyers will love the home as much as they did. Gather together your earnest money, purchase offer, letter of interest, and any description of the comps you used. You'll either submit the offer to the seller's real estate agent or to your own agent. Submit with full knowledge that you may need to negotiate with the seller.

SUMMARY: Read your jurisdiction's laws. Look for purchase offer forms. Include basic information in the purchase offer. Explain what you will pay. Include contingencies. Set the duration of your offer. Add other necessary provisions. Review all information. Write up a list of comps. Consider writing a letter of interest. Submit your offer.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The first step in writing an academic paper is finding good sources. Start by going to your library's website and searching for keywords related to your topic. You can also use digital scholarly resources like WorldCat, JSTOR, Google Scholar, or ResearchGate. You may need to log in with your student ID or institutional ID to get access to many online scholarly databases, or access them through a school or library computer. Another good way to start building your bibliography is to look at the reference list on an introductory overview of your subject, such as an encyclopedia entry. Your instructor, or your school's reference librarian, may also be able to recommend some good sources on your topic. Look for sources that are reputable, well-sourced, and up-to-date. Ideally, most of your sources should have been published within the last 5-10 years. Scholarly books and peer-reviewed articles from academic journals are usually acceptable sources, as well as articles from reputable news organizations. Avoid popular publications and user-edited websites, such as Wikipedia. While Wikipedia is often unreliable and is not considered an appropriate source for most academic writing, it can be a good starting point for research. Check the "References" section of the Wikipedia article on your topic for useful sources. . Just because information comes from an apparently reputable source (such as a peer-reviewed journal, a scholarly book, or a news article), don't assume that it is correct. Consider some of the following as you are doing your research: Where is the author getting their information? Do they provide credible sources? Does the author provide convincing evidence to back up their arguments? Does the author have any obvious biases or agendas that affect the way they present or interpret their information? A primary source is any type of first-hand or direct evidence about your topic. Depending on the subject matter, a primary source might be something like a video recording of an event, data from a laboratory experiment, an interview with an eyewitness, or a historical document, such as a monument, work of art, or memoir. When you look at secondary sources, such as scholarly papers or news articles, you are seeing the data filtered through someone else's perspective. Looking at primary data allows you to interpret the evidence for yourself. Your instructor should specify whether you need to incorporate primary sources into your research, and if so, how to find and utilize them. If you're not sure, ask. While the internet offers a vast quantity of useful information for researchers, it can be hard to separate good-quality resources from bad ones. In general, look for sources that are published on scholarly websites (such as university, library, or museum websites), by reputable news organizations (such as the BBC, NPR, or the Associated Press), or by government organizations (like the EPA or FDA). When using online articles or other online sources, also consider these questions: Are the author's credentials given? Is the author qualified to write on the subject? Does the author state where they got their information? Are you able to verify the sources? Is the article written in an objective, unbiased manner? Is the article written for an academic audience? Is the content intended to be educational? How does the URL end? Generally, sites that end in .edu, .org, or .gov are more reputable than sites that end in .com.

SUMMARY:
Take advantage of your school's resources to build your bibliography. Choose appropriate sources. Read your sources critically Incorporate primary sources, if applicable. Evaluate online sources carefully.