Why Finding Your Dream Home Is Only the Start of the Process
If you and your loved one have been hunting for a new home for a long time, you may have finally found the house of your dreams. You may have been exhausted by the whole process and think that the most difficult part of your work is now over. However, you need to pay very careful attention to the legal process ahead if you're going to ensure that you actually get this special property, and in particular, you need to deal with conveyancing issues. Why do you need to pay even more attention now?
Time to Take a Breath
Whenever two parties negotiate to transfer ownership of a property, many different legal issues need to be addressed. While you may be tempted to rush ahead so that you secure this place, there are many pitfalls ahead, should you act too quickly. The seller may try to inject some urgency into the situation, but you need to take a deep breath and focus.
What Are You Actually Getting?
In particular, you need to make sure that the property you are getting is in good condition and that the individual selling it to you has the right to do so. You need to plan a full inspection of the building and do the proper research to ensure that they have a clean title to pass on to you. Some people have found out the hard way that their dream property was not intended to be sold with the actual title, but only with occupation rights, and this situation would seriously compromise their ability to borrow money from a bank, for example.
When the property is inspected by an independent entity, the true value will be revealed. This information will definitely be required by a lending institution, and you should not sign any documents before this information has been recorded.
Is Everything Fair?
Separately, you need to carefully review the terms contained within a contract to make sure that they are in your best interests. Anything that seems one-sided in the seller's favour should give you cause for concern.
What's in That Dark Corner?
A full home inspection could reveal issues that you may not have seen during your own tour of the building. An expert may notice tiny cracks in a difficult-to-reach place, which could be evidence of settlement or something more sinister. As difficult as it may seem, you may have to pull out of negotiations if there may be big problems in the future.
Hold That Pen
Finally, don't automatically assume that you will have a "cooling off" period, should you sign right away. Certain states mandate that this be the case, but others may not.
Don't Go It Alone
In order to make sure that you tread the narrow path between enthusiasm and sensible practicality, always ensure that you use a licensed conveyancing solicitor.
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