Selling Your Home

Selling your home is a Real Estate transaction.  As discussed in prior articles, when dealing with the transfer of Real Estate property from one party onto another a real estate lawyer is required in order to complete the transaction.

Selling your home may involve acquiring the services of a real estate agent.  If a real estate agent is selling your home on your behalf, it will be necessary to sign a contract with the real estate agent.  The contract, as one may expect, is binding on the parties.  It is advisable that you consult a real estate lawyer early in the process in order to ensure you are fully aware as to what is being agreed upon.

Once a potential purchaser places an offer on your home, a contract will be handed over to you for your consideration and signature if you choose to accept the offer.  The contract is standard, but there may be additions or adjustments to clauses that may affect your rights.  Because this contract is the single most important document in the sale of your home, it is highly advisable that you and your lawyer review it together prior to signing the contract.

The signed contract will include two important dates.  The first important date, which is most relevant to the seller, is the closing date.  The second important date, which is important to the lawyers, is the requisition date.  The requisition date represents the cutoff date by which the purchaser’s lawyer may request action from the seller’s lawyer.  The closing date, to the seller, represents the day that the seller will be paid for the sale of their home.  However, the closing date to the seller’s lawyer represents the day whereby title is transferred from the seller’s name to the purchaser’s name and funds are disbursed accordingly.  In addition, if the seller has an outstanding mortgage at the time of closing then the lawyer of the seller will ensure that the mortgage-holder is fully paid and the mortgage is removed from the title of the real estate property.

There are several steps before you are able to sell your home.  To ensure that your legal rights are protected at every stage of the process, make sure that the first step is to seek and retain a real estate lawyer.