PARTIES:

Seller: all of the owners of the property must be listed and sign the contract.
Buyer: The parties listed are the ones liable on the contract. If the buyer adds "and/or Assigns" after his name the buyer may then have the right to sell the purchase contract to another buyer. Contracts are considered assignable unless they specifically provide otherwise.

Conveyance: Standard contracts provide for the seller to convey the property to the buyer by warranty deed. There are, however, three types of deeds.

Warranty Deed: the seller warrants (guarantees) that he is conveying full title to the buyer. The buyer should usually insist upon this.

Special Warranty Deed: the seller warrants that he is conveying title in the state that he received it to the buyer. This is usually used when the seller obtained title through foreclosure and does not want to guarantee that the foreclosure itself was free from defects,
which it often is not.
Quit Claim Deed: the seller releases his interest in the property to the buyer. This does not state that the seller had any interest to begin with, however, just that he doesn't anymore. This is considered to be an officially "suspicious" source of title in south Florida. Note that quit claim deeds are legitimately used to extinguish potential interests such heirs when purchasing from an estate. The buyer should also note that if he gets title insurance, the type of deed is more the title insurer's problem then his.
Agreement for Deed: There is no such thing in Florida, which is why it says there are three types of deeds above. The idea of an agreement for deed is that the buyer pays for the property in installments but does not get a deed from the seller until the last payment is made. In Florida, the courts will reform any such attempted arrangement into a deed with a seller mortgage, and direct the seller to the foreclosure clerk. Seller's seeking to do this are relying on the buyer's gullibility, and might consider a lease-option instead.

Property Description: the contract must describe the property so that it can be positively identified. The legal description is preferable to just a street address. Most legal descriptions follow this form Lot ___, Block _____, Plat Name, Plat Book ___, Page ____. The plat book and page are often presented together separated by a dash. If you are not sure of the legal description, have your real estate attorney look it up for you rather than have a potentially unenforceable contract. The other type of legal description is called "metes and bounds" and consists of a surveyors description of the property. It is very likely that you will not be able to copy such a description with out making a mistake, so make a copy if it and attach it as an addendum.

Purchase Price: In the purchase price section of the contract the buyer usually specifies his financing contingencies. Possible options are: new financing, cash contract, seller financing, assuming an existing mortgage, and taking subject to an existing mortgage.

New Financing: the buyer states not only the amount of the mortgage he seeks but may also specify the minimum terms. If the buyer does not obtain a mortgage commitment in the amount and terms on the contract, he may rescind the contract and be entitled to the return of his entire deposit. The paragraph providing for this is often titled "Mortgage Application and Qualification," and is one of the biggest "escape clauses in the contract. This provision typically states that if the buyer hasn't obtained a written loan commitment, which a pre-qualification is not, within a certain period of time, either party may rescind the contract, and the buyer recover his entire deposit. [..cont..]