Getting Your St. Louis Home’s Legal Affairs in Order Before Selling
Selling your St. Louis home is a big process with plenty of moving parts that seem to change all the time. It is incredibly important that you know what to expect when getting started. Do your research to know exactly how and when steps will need to get done in order to stay on track. Getting your St. Louis home’s legal affairs in order before selling will only serve to protect you throughout the process.
Settle Your Debts
Find out if there are any liens or debts that will prevent you from selling your St. Louis property; and then find out what you need to do to settle them. Court judgments, unpaid child support or alimony, federal, state or local tax liens, and a number of other factors can all prevent you from selling your home. It’s important to familiarize yourself with any and all debts and set the plans in motion to correct them as quickly as you can.
Agree with all Involved
If you own the St. Louis home with other people, such as from inheritance, marriage or domestic partnership, you need to be sure that everyone is on the same page about the property. Trying to sell the property out from under a family member or an ex-spouse can result in fraud consequences and cause your sale to fall through. All interested parties need to sit down and talk out how the sale will work, how the money and assets will be divided and who will handle the remaining responsibilities. Once you’ve discussed these things it is valuable to sit down with a qualified real estate attorney to have a contract drawn up that is agreed upon by all parties involved. This way, if anything happens with the sale or something goes south you will be protected.
Organize Your Documents
Make sure that all of your important documents are organized and ready, especially those that demonstrate the value of your home. The deed, surveys, appraisals, evidence of repairs and renovations, evidence of any liens and copies of any agreements that have been made with co-tenants need to be organized and available for reference by all involved. You want to be able to show the value of the property and keep track of all important documents related to it.
The many moving parts of selling your St. Louis home can become overwhelming but if you start with a well-organized clean slate you will be able to keep track of the process much easier. Know where you stand legally and what you can do to protect all of your interests, especially if others have interest in the property as well. Make sure you know what is expected of you throughout the process and that you don’t lose sight of your goals or your legal rights and you will put yourself in a position for a successful sale.