My grandfather bought his first house with a handshake. Walked into the bank, shook the manager's hand, and that was that. No twenty-page contract. No lawyers. A man's word was the contract.
He did business the same way his whole life. You looked someone in the eye, you shook hands, and the deal was done. If someone broke a handshake deal, the whole town knew about it by Thursday and that person was finished.
I am not saying it was better. Plenty of people got cheated. But there was something about the weight of it. When your reputation was your credit score and your word was your bond, people chose their words carefully. That part I miss.