Selling a house comes with a set of steps to be followed by the sellers and buyers. On the seller side, certain forms must be completed as mandated by the state that pertain to defects in the property. Buyers must submit their own reports, as a formal “offer.” Other formal steps must be followed, and certain conditions may create more steps depending on government law.
Tag Archives: Buying a home
Legal-Ease: Water and sewer service for your new house
When building a new home, water and sewer services are pretty important pieces to have in place early. If the land you choose to build your home on is adjacent to public water and public sanitary sewer lines, some of the initial hurdles are already out of the way. If the land is not near water and sewer service lines, a water source needs to be found, such as a well or a pond. The biggest hurdle, however, is sanitary service. There are strict regulations surrounding sanitary sewer systems, and it’s up to local health departments to fill in the regulations’ gaps.
Legal-Ease: Shared ownership handy now, expensive later
Co-owning land or other property can be a good idea in the short run, but may present significant difficulties down the road. If one of the co-owners dies, new owners’ wishes can be completely different than what was originally intended.
Legal-Ease: do I need a survey?
Transferring ownership of land can be time consuming, costly and complicated. While surveying in the early days of our country was done with less precision than today, the various uses of a piece of property might still necessitate that a new survey be conducted.
Legal-Ease: Looking at land contracts
The financial crisis of the last several years has left many people with less than stellar credit. While we have quite a few flexible, community-based lenders in our area, the newest rules and regulations regarding lending may tie their hands and may prevent potential loans from being workable. Therefore sometimes potential buyers of homes cannot secure the proper financing in order to purchase a home. This is when a land contract may be a good solution for the home buyers and sellers.
Legal-Ease: Who pays what closing costs
Spring is often the busiest times for home sales and closings. As you go into your home sale, it’s good to know what is customary regarding the closing costs.
Federal law requires that the buyer of the home receive an estimate on closing costs (if they’re borrowing money for the purchase of the home) several days in advance of the closing.
Legal-Ease: How do I buy a new-to-me house?
Interested in buying a new home but not sure where to begin? Lee recommends that you start by talking to local banks and credit unions. Once you have an idea of your budget, consider more seriously looking into local real estate. Or you can consider hiring a real estate agent if you don’t want to investigate local homes on your own.
Legal-Ease: Options, rights of first refusal are distinct tools
While options and rights of first refusal are two very different concepts, people commonly confuse them and their very different uses.
Legal-Ease: Bidding at a sheriff’s sale requires work in advance
Never show up to a sheriff’s sale unprepared; if you expect to leave successful, you’ll want to do some homework in advance of the bidding.