Our practical take: agreeing to arbitration is reasonable for most buyers. We are not attorneys, though, so get a legal read on your specific contract if a clause worries you. Many residential purchase agreements, including the standard California form, have a section where the buyer can agree to arbitrate or mediate disputes rather than take them straight to court. Arbitration and mediation tend to cost less than litigation and give both sides a structured way to resolve a disagreement directly instead of grinding through a lawsuit. Agreeing does not guarantee you never see a courtroom. Arbitration can still spill into a court case in some situations. As a default, though, choosing the lower-cost, faster path to work through a dispute is a sensible position for a buyer to take. If a particular clause gives you pause, that is the moment to spend a little money on an attorney's review, before you sign, rather than after a problem shows up.