Home Sale Law in Missouri

The decision to buy or sell a house, or other piece of real property, is very crucial. For most, it's one of the most crucial financial decisions of their life.

In Chillicothe, Missouri, it's perfectly legal for individuals to buy and sell homes without the assistance of a third party. However, this isn't the only option, and isn't always the best option, either.

Accordingly, many people decide to go through a real estate broker when they're buying or selling a house. A real estate broker is a professional who serves as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. They can make the process much easier, helping deal with the tedious details and formalities.

Some Chillicothe, Missouri real estate brokers charge a flat fee, but most take a relatively small percentage of the sale price of a house they help a client sell.

Getting a Mortgage in Chillicothe, Missouri

First and foremost, if a buyer asks any question of the seller relating to physical defects in the property, the seller must, under all situations, be as truthful as possible. In this case being "as truthful as possible" means answering such questions to the best of your knowledge, and making reasonable efforts to find the answers if you don't know them. Lying in this case is very bad idea, and will expose you to serious civil penalties

In addition to disclosing any material facts the buyer directly inquires about, most "latent defects" in a house or other piece of property should be disclosed whether the buyer asks or not. Typically, any defect that the seller knows about and that the buyer can't be expected to discover through a reasonable inspection, it has to be disclosed.

Buyers should remember, however, that if they are not blameless in their failure to discover defects, they might not be able to recover if they sue.

Buyers have to conduct reasonably-diligent inspections of land they want to purchase. If they fail to do so, they can't sue for any defects which they could have easily discovered.

Can a Chillicothe, Missouri Real Estate Attorney help?

If you are buying a home in Chillicothe, Missouri, there are probably things you want to focus on other than paperwork and required inspections, such as the process of moving in, checking out schools, etc. A brilliant real estate attorney can make it much easier to focus on the aspects of home ownership that matter to you.