Understanding Deeds When Selling a Home

The process of selling property is easier if you understand the basics of the sales process. Marketing the property and dealing with buyers and/or the hassles of real estate agents can be aggravating, but the piles of paperwork and all the different forms involved are really the biggest issue. Among these many forms and papers are deeds. We?ll help make selling property a little easier for you by clearing things up a bit.

A warranty deed is a pretty basic deed that, for the most part, states the seller owns the property and there are no liens (debts, etc) against the property that will be transferred over. It is stating that the property is legally owned and there are no hidden tie-ins the buyer should be aware of. This deed ensures buyers that the property they are buying is actually owned by the person they are dealing with and they won?t be met with any surprises later on. Furthermore, if another person were to try to claim the property down the line, the warranty deed would legally protect the new buyer and the buyer would be entitled to compensation from the original seller. The warranty deed is used in the majority of property sales.

On the other hand, quit claim deeds are presented to these buyers instead by a person who does not necessarily legally own the property, but instead holds responsibility for that property. Such instances where this can occur are upon a death when the property is transferred as inheritance, or when spouses are both on the name of the deed and a divorce is occurring. Quit claim deeds, unlike warranty deeds, do not offer a great deal of protection to the buyers of the property. In truth, they should be avoided unless you know exactly what you are doing and have experience in buying and selling property.

Understanding the different between these deeds will help two fold. Sellers of property will not get caught up mistakenly offering the wrong type of deed and buyers will be better prepared to know what sort of legal protection and ownership rights they will be ensured depending on the sort of deed signed. In the case of these two deeds, the warranty deed is definitely the way to go.

Posted by John Mason on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About John Mason
John Mason is affliated with Mason and Company Realty, which is located in Jacksonville, AR. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.




As of 05/17/12 the John Mason RePage is ranked at 3,831 with 400 points.