Courtney Duff Realty

This document is the legal document used to convey property to a new buyer. The title company or closing attorney will record your deed at the Courthouse, which will make it a part of the public record. The original recorded deed will be mailed to you approximately two weeks after the closing.

A title search is a detailed examination of the historical records concerning a property and may include deeds, court records, property and name indexes, and many other documents. The purpose is to verify the seller's right to transfer ownership and to discover any claims, defects, easements, encroachments, and other rights or burdens affecting the property.

Title insurance is simply a contract of indemnity. It protects the owner from losses due to defects in ownership rights, requiring only ONE premium to cover the new owner and heirs for the entire period of ownership!

This is a "good faith" payment you submit with the offer to deposit in an escrow account and will be applied to your closing costs. Sometimes, your lender will want you to bring a receipt for the earnest money deposit along with your sales contract to the loan application meeting.

The amount paid by a mortgagor for mortgage insurance, either to a government agency such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or to a private mortgage insurance (PMI) company. PITI - Principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

Oral promises are not legally enforceable when it comes to the sale of real estate. REALTORS usually have a variety of standard forms (including Residential Purchase Agreements) that have been utilized thousands of times and are kept up to date with the changing laws. When you use a REALTOR these forms will be available to you. In addition, REALTORS offer protection for all parties and cover the questions that need to be answered during the process. In many states certain disclosure laws must be complied with by the seller, and the REALTOR will ensure that this takes place. After the offer is dreawn up and signed, it will usually be presented to the seller by your REALTOR or by the sellers' REALTOR if that's a different agent.

If your offer says "this offer is contingent upon (or subject to) a certain event," you're saying that you will only go through with the purchase if that event occurs.

You will have a binding contract if the seller, upon receiving your written offer, signs an acceptance, just as it stands, unconditionally. The offer becomes a firm contract as soon as you are notified of acceptance.

Withdrawing an Offer? Can you take back an offer? In most cases the answer is yes, right up until the moment it is accepted, or even, in some cases, if you haven't yet been notified of acceptance.

Expenses (over and above the price of the property) incurred by buyers and sellers in transferring ownership of a property. Closing costs normally include an origination fee, an attorneys fee, taxes, an amount placed in escrow, and charges for obtaining titile insurance and a survey. Closing costs percentage will vary according to the area of the country; lenders or realtors often provide estimates of closing costs to prospective homebuyers.

After you have accepted an offer on your home there's a number of details that still need to be finished various inspections to the home, appraisal by the buyers mortgage company, title company or attorney research and collecting information.

Insurance that compensates for physical property damage resulting from flooding. It is required for properties located in federally designated flood areas. Some lenders will require a property to have flood insurance because a property is within so many feet of a river, stream, lake, etc.

Insurance coverage that compensates for physical damage to a property from fire, wind, vandalism, or other hazards.

A deed that transfers without warranty whatever interest or title a grantor may have at the time the conveyance is made.