Home Sale Law in New York

Buying or selling a house can be an exciting but stressful time in a person's life. It also requires a person to make a large number of possibly life-changing financial and legal decisions.

In Suffolk County, New York, it's perfectly legal for individuals to buy and sell homes without the assistance of a third party. Nonetheless, this isn't the only option, and isn't always the best option, either.

For that reason, it's typically best to buy and sell property through a real estate broker. This is a person who helps a person buy or sell a home. They help as an intermediary between the buyer and seller, help sellers find buyers, and help prospective buyers. They also handle a great deal of the paperwork and other formalities involved.

In Suffolk County, New York, brokers typically receive compensation in the form of a percentage of the sale price of the home.

Getting a Mortgage in Suffolk County, New York

First and foremost, if a buyer asks any question of the seller relating to physical defects in the property, the seller must, under all cases, 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

There are some defects which should be disclosed whether asked or not. Any defect which the seller is cognizant of, and the buyer can't be reasonably expected to discover before buying the house, must be disclosed.

Buyers, nonetheless, are not off the hook in this matter. If they ignore defects that they could have quickly discovered, they probably won't be able to recover for them.

Usually, buyers have a duty to conduct a reasonable inspection of the property before buying it. Therefore, buyers typically can't recover for defects that could have been discovered via reasonable inspection, unless the seller actively conceals them.

Can a Suffolk County, New York Real Estate Attorney help?

If you are buying a home in Suffolk County, New York, 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 reliable real estate attorney can make it much easier to focus on the aspects of home ownership that matter to you.