Selling your house

So you’re selling your house, and you’re feeling overwhelmed. This is natural, for while buying a home is the largest purchase in the average American’s lifetime, selling that home is the largest trauma. A home isn’t just any possession; it’s your whole life wrapped up in one package. Once you make that decision to sell, you need to do one more thing to help ease the process: make sure that you can sell your house.

I’m not talking about preparing yourself mentally for the emotional impact of the sale. That’s important, but you’ve taken care of it in all of the preparations you’ve been making. I’m talking about making sure that, legally, you can sell your house.

To do this, you’ll need to get together with your real estate agent, and go over your title paperwork, your mortgage paperwork, and your property survey and deed. You need to make sure that the title is in order, and that the person selling is the person listed as the owner. This can be especially important for separated couples who bought the home together, but no longer live together; remember that only the person listed on the title can sell the house! Also, you’ll need to make sure that the mortgage is paid up to date, and that there are no other liens on the property. Finally, check the survey and deed with local city and county records; are there any easements or encroachments on the property? If so, these will need to be cleared up before any sale can take place.

Most of time, checks of this sort are a mere formality. Still, you should always do them; it’s better to know in advance than to have to turn away a buyer because you can’t sell your house.