Home Sale Law in North Dakota

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 potentially life-changing financial and legal decisions.

While it's possible in Valley City, North Dakota for individuals to buy or sell property on their own, this is not the only (or necessarily best) option. There are many complex legal and financial issues involved, so the assistance of a professional is advisable.

For that reason, it's usually 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 serve 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.

Some Valley City, North Dakota 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 Valley City, North Dakota

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 discover through a reasonable inspection, it has to be disclosed.

Buyers, however, also have duties in this area. A buyer will not be rewarded for failing to exercise due diligence.

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 Valley City, North Dakota Real Estate Attorney help?

When buying a house, most people want to focus on the aspects that actually matter to them, such as moving in. For that reason, it's highly desirable that the process of buying and selling a house goes as smoothly as possible. To that end, a good Valley City, North Dakota real estate attorney could be invaluable.