Home Sale Law in Virginia

If you are in the process of buying or selling a home, you're probably already aware of the many legal, financial, and other issues that can affect the process and outcome of such a transaction.

While there are no laws in Petersburg, Virginia 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.

Therefore, it's normally a good idea to use a real estate broker for these transactions. A real estate broker is a professional who helps people buy and sell property. They can help buyers find sellers, and vice versa. They can also handle a large percentage of the tedious details.

Petersburg, Virginia real estate brokers are normally paid by taking a pre-determined portion of the house's sale price.

Getting a Mortgage in Petersburg, Virginia

Any direct questions asked of the seller by the buyer must be answered truthfully. This is especially 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 serious 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. 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 should remember, however, that if they are not blameless in their failure to discover defects, they might not be able to recover if they sue.

Thus, 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 Petersburg, Virginia 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 Petersburg, Virginia real estate attorney can help you focus on the positive aspects, and avoid dealing with the most difficult and tedious (but nonetheless necessary) aspects.