A lot of physical work goes into trying to sell your home. Property improvements, cleaning, and lots of showings take up time and energy. One side of selling a home that goes unnoticed is the paperwork involved. Knowing what documents you need to sell your home helps you prepare further in advance.
Original Sales Contract
Whether you originally bought the home or built it, there should have been a sales contract that marked the transaction. You’ll need this when selling so you can start proving that you are the sole and rightful owner of the property. That way, there’s no legal question about your ability to sell it without claims or interference from others.
Mortgage Statement
Part of the home buyer document preparation process might include getting a mortgage statement with your payoff amount. This will go over how much of the current mortgage is currently paid off so far so you can apply the home sale amount to the rest of the balance.
Homeowner’s Insurance Records
A home buyer will need their own homeowner’s insurance. Having said that, they’ll want to see your records to make sure the home has been insured while you owned it. They’ll also need records of any claims that you made and evidence that they were taken care of. The buyer’s homeowner’s insurance carrier might need all this in order to approve or underwrite their policy correctly.
HOA Documents
If your home is part of a homeowner’s association, there are likely documents that go along with that. The new buyer will need this in order to participate properly in the HOA they are becoming a part of. These documents might dictate what they can and can’t do with the home, and they might even impact whether or not they’ll buy it or not. Some HOAs can be pests about lawn care and paint colors, whereas others are helpful and handle yard work and trash collection. The devil is in the details, and those details are in those documents.
If you want to execute a home sale as quickly and painlessly as possible, then you need to make sure you have all of these documents, plus the many more documents likely required to sell a home where you live. For that matter, also make sure you have the correct versions of all these documents so the process doesn’t get held up by trivial minutiae. So if you need help with home buyer document preparation, don’t be afraid to ask.