What if you sign a contract to buy a home but then don’t want to, or can’t, close? Can you designate someone to take over the sale for you? Under ordinary principles of contract law, every contract is assignable unless prohibited, so you should be able to. Some contracts will allow assignment but seller approval will be required. Under the standard Arizona purchase contract, the buyer is permitted to assign the contract without restriction. On the other side of the transaction, if you are a seller and the identity of the buyer is important to you (such as under a contract with a carryback loan), then you should prohibit any assignment without your consent.
