Deed / Title questions

[Nicholas Richardson]

This coming Monday I will be meeting with an owner that is going to sign the deed of his house over to me. I already have a buyer lined up to take this property from me right away. My are questions are as follows.

What paperwork do I need to transfer the deed from the owner to me? What is the process?

My buyer wants to make sure there is clear title. Do I need to have a title company do this or is there an easy way for me to do this on my own? I checked the records online and it looks like there is a release for the mortgage records. Taxes are current and and can't find any liens on the property.

Even though they are giving me the house for free does anyone have an idea of what all this might cost me if anything besides the fees to record the document?

Thanks for any help in advance..

[Jim Wineinger]

First of all, you will need to have a warranty deed drawn up, usually by an attorney, costs vary on this. The warranty deed is very important because without it several title comanies will not "guarantee" their title search which is what gives the buyer an guarantee of clear title.

A quit claim deed just does not do this adequately.

Then when filing with the county, no matter what the property is sold for, there is often a question that you will have to answer that says that the amount listed is the amount paid for the property OR the actual value of the property WHICHEVER IS GREATER. This is the amount that they base the sales taxes on that they will collect from you on top of those filing fees.

There are some situations that will get you around this, such as it being willed to you, or between family members, ect.