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The key idea being tested is how many promises bind the parties and when the contract is formed. A bilateral contract is formed when both parties make promises to each other—each side is obligated to perform. In real estate, that’s the typical purchase agreement: the buyer promises to pay the price and the seller promises to convey title, so both have duties and can seek enforcement if the other side breaches. A unilateral contract, by contrast, rests on one party’s promise and is only formed when the other party completes the requested act. An example often used in real estate is an option to purchase: the owner promises to sell at a set price if the optionee pays for the option; the contract becomes binding only when that performance occurs.

So the statement that best describes the difference is that a bilateral contract involves mutual promises between two parties. The other ideas aren’t about the fundamental distinction: notarization or being oral aren’t what separates bilateral from unilateral contracts, and most real estate contracts of consequence are not purely unilateral by nature.