Till the time the contracts are formally exchanged, at any point of time, either party to the contract can withdraw from the same. The parties are therefore given the opportunity to take advice and make proper searches or inquiries before deciding to sale or purchase a particular property. This allows the seller to sell the property at a much higher price to another purchaser. Similarly, the purchaser is at liberty to tell the buyer before the contract that he will purchase the property only if it is given to him at a lower price. This can only effectively controlled through “Lock Out Agreements”. In this case the seller does not consider any other offers till a particular period of time that have been agreed upon by both the parties to the contract. Usually a seller does not agree to have a “Lock Out Agreement” unless the Purchaser promises to go in for the purchase positively.
