open contract A contract for the sale of property which merely specifies the names of the parties, a description of the property, and statement of the price. The rights and duties of the parties under and open contract are: (1) duty of vendor (a) to show title for 15 years; (b) to abstract and produce documents; (c) to convey the identical property he has agreed to sell; (2) obligation of purchaser (a) to bear the cost of producing certain documents; (b) to examine the abstract at his own expense (c) to complete the contract.