Random Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 We are buying a house from an individual, without real estate agents, title company or escrow agent. The deal is professional, but we are also long-time friends. We trust each other and have made business deals together for the past 10 years. We know he legitimately owns the home, and that there are no issues with the house, legally, whatsoever. What form do I need to file with my county office to show a change in ownership when we buy the house? Best I can tell, it's either a Warranty Deed or a Quitclaim Deed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Please, please, please, please do NOT buy a property without title insurance. I beg you! Seriously, it is cheap! You need to have this. Why? You ask? I have a tenant that had a very similar situation as yours. Bought a house and land from a family member with cash. No title search or insurance. They went to sell it only to find that it is part of a bigger lien that really has nothing to do with this property. In short - other than paying off the ginormous sum on this lien to clear their title - they are out the 80k they put into this house. I own 7 properties and there is no way I would ever not have a title search and insurance. ETA - I have another title insurance story. We bought the house we live in as a foreclosure. It sits on a very small lake. A few days after closing - we were hit with a lien our the house for an assessment that had to do with this lake. I didn't pay the lien and before long - the cost tripled to many thousand dollars. I contacted my title insurance company and it was covered. If I didn't have title insurance - I would have had that lien on my property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Just call the title company and ask them. They will have one, or you can pick one up at an office supply store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 We are buying a house from an individual, without real estate agents, title company or escrow agent. The deal is professional, but we are also long-time friends. We trust each other and have made business deals together for the past 10 years. We know he legitimately owns the home, and that there are no issues with the house, legally, whatsoever. What form do I need to file with my county office to show a change in ownership when we buy the house? Best I can tell, it's either a Warranty Deed or a Quitclaim Deed. PLEASE have a title company do a title search. Even the current owner may not know there is a problem. What forms you need will depend on state & local law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 Just call the title company and ask them. They will have one, or you can pick one up at an office supply store. Duh! Of course, this is the easiest solution. Thanks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 Please, please, please, please do NOT buy a property without title insurance. I beg you! Seriously, it is cheap! You need to have this. Why? You ask? I have a tenant that had a very similar situation as yours. Bought a house and land from a family member with cash. No title search or insurance. They went to sell it only to find that it is part of a bigger lien that really has nothing to do with this property. In short - other than paying off the ginormous sum on this lien to clear their title - they are out the 80k they put into this house. I own 7 properties and there is no way I would ever not have a title search and insurance. ETA - I have another title insurance story. We bought the house we live in as a foreclosure. It sits on a very small lake. A few days after closing - we were hit with a lien our the house for an assessment that had to do with this lake. I didn't pay the lien and before long - the cost tripled to many thousand dollars. I contacted my title insurance company and it was covered. If I didn't have title insurance - I would have had that lien on my property. Thanks for the information here. Just for the record, title insurance is not cheap around here (of course it's cheaper than winding up in a huge mess!!). BUT...the current owner did purchase the home with title insurance, and he's only owned it for 6 months. We know, for sure, 100% positively that the title is clear and there are no liens. I wouldn't typically do any sort of real estate transaction without title insurance, but in this case, we do know we are secure. I don't want to give a bunch of details on the internet, but just for the record, we know what we're getting in to. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbpaulie Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 FYI - someone can own a property free and clear but if something was filed wrong or incorrectly signed previously it could cause issues. I second the folks who are telling you to get the title insc. Most realtors or real esata attorneys are willing to complete this transaction for you for about $200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 We have a similar situation probably in that the home was bought, with a title search and title insurance, 6 months prior. We're purchasing from family. If you talk to your county recorder's office they can probably tell you exactly what you need to transfer the deed. It is probably a quit claim deed and you can do this yourself in my opinion. We just purchased quit claim deeds at the office supply store that we filled out using the previous deed as a template. Then they filed the new deed with the county recorder. I think the bank or recorders office notarized (free wherever it was) though I'm not entirely sure; only the previous owners had to file it so I wasn't there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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