Home Sale Law in Indiana
The decision to buy or sell a house, or other piece of real property, is very essential. For most, it's one of the most crucial financial decisions of their life.
While there are no laws in Richmond, Indiana against persons buying or selling real estate on their own, this is rarely the ideal way to go, given the many legal issues surrounding the sale of property.
Many individuals, families, and small businesses rely on real estate brokers to find property for them. Real estate brokers are professionals who serve as middlemen or women between the buyers and sellers of real estate.
Richmond, Indiana real estate brokers are usually paid by taking a pre-determined portion of the house's sale price.
Getting a Mortgage in Richmond, Indiana
First and foremost, if a buyer asks any question of the seller relating to physical defects in the property, the seller must, under all circumstances, 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. Generally, any defect that the seller knows about and that the buyer can't be expected to know through a reasonable inspection, it has to be disclosed.
Buyers should remember, nonetheless, that if they are not blameless in their failure to discover defects, they might not be able to recover if they sue.
Therefore, buyers must inspect the property before they buy it. If they don't, they can't sue for any defects they later become aware of, if an inspection would have revealed those defects.
Can a Richmond, Indiana Real Estate Attorney help?
As you can imagine, there are many more legal and financial issues that can affect the outcome of a real estate transaction. However, buying a house is also a very exciting time for most people. A reputable Richmond, Indiana real estate attorney can help you focus on the positive aspects, and avoid dealing with the most difficult and tedious (but nonetheless necessary) aspects.