The risk of loss is then transferred to the buyer – if a house on the property burns down after the contract has been signed, but before the deed is conveyed, the buyer will nevertheless have to pay the agreed-upon purchase price for the land unless the seller in possession or deemed in possession has failed to protect it.
Such issues can and should be avoided by parties by stipulating in the contract who will bear the loss in such occurrences.
In most jurisdictions, the real property interest created by the contract will pass to the buyer's heirs, while the seller's personal property interest created by the contract will pass to the seller's estate.
A growing minority of States have adopted the Uniform Vendor and Purchaser Risk Act (UVPRA) in one form or another.
In Massachusetts and a handful of other states, the seller continues to bear the risk until the title is actually transferred to the buyer, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.