What Is Specific Performance in a Real Estate Contract?

Specific performance is a remedy in which the court orders a breaching party to perform the contract itself rather than merely pay damages. In real estate it usually means ordering a seller who refuses to close to convey the property to the buyer on the agreed terms.

California law presumes that every parcel of real property is unique, which is why real estate contracts are the classic candidates for specific performance. The party seeking it must show a valid, sufficiently definite contract, consideration that was adequate and fair, that they performed or stood ready to perform their own obligations, and that money damages would not make them whole. Sellers can also seek specific performance against buyers in the right circumstances, though it is less common.

Specific performance cases move on two tracks at once: proving the contract and tender, and protecting the property in the meantime, usually with a lis pendens so the seller cannot convey it to someone else while the case is pending. Timing and documented readiness to close are usually what win them.