Home Sale Law in New Mexico

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.

Because of the complexity of these issues, most people in Santa Fe County, New Mexico don't opt to sell real estate themselves, even though there are no laws barring them from doing so.

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.

Santa Fe County, New Mexico real estate brokers are usually paid by taking a pre-determined portion of the house's sale price.

Getting a Mortgage in Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Any direct questions asked of the seller by the buyer must be answered truthfully. This is particularly the case if the buyer asks about defects in the property. If the seller lies in response to such questions, they have just committed a very significant form of fraud. If the buyer later discovers this defect (after buying the property) he can sue the seller for any physical or financial harm caused by it.

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.

Of course, buyers are also expected to conduct due diligence. In a case for nondisclosure, courts won't reward a lack of diligence.

Therefore, if a buyer fails to conduct a reasonable expectation of the property, he or she cannot recover for any harm caused by defects that such an inspection would have revealed.

Can a Santa Fe County, New Mexico Real Estate Attorney help?

Buying a house can be an exciting, but challenging, experience. Most home buyers want to focus on the positive aspects that come with home-ownership, and ignore the tedious paperwork and legal issues. A reputable Santa Fe County, New Mexico real estate attorney can enable this.