Home Sale Law in Pennsylvania

When you are about to buy or sell a home, there are many things that must be considered, not the least of which being the many legal and financial decisions you have to make.

While there are no laws in Carlisle, Pennsylvania against individuals buying or selling real estate on their own, this is rarely the best way to go, given the many legal issues surrounding the sale of property.

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 Carlisle, Pennsylvania 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 Carlisle, Pennsylvania

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

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

Can a Carlisle, Pennsylvania 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 brilliant Carlisle, Pennsylvania real estate attorney can help you focus on the positive aspects, and avoid dealing with the most difficult and tedious (but nonetheless necessary) aspects.