Buying or Selling a Home/Selling half a house

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Expert: - 8/4/2004


Question
I live in Pennsylvania.

Before my mother died, she transferred title of her house to my sister and myself, as co-owners.

My sister would like to buy my half of the house from me. Do we need to follow the same procedures as if she were buying the house on the market, or is their a simplified procedure since she is already half-owner?


Answer
Dear Zane;
This will be a much simpler procedure but will require an attorney to file the paperwork.  Since your sister is already a co-owner, you will be signing the deed over to her with a transfer of title by removing your name.  An additional document will be drawn up showing the consideration being paid to you. You didn't mention if your sister was getting a loan for this, but if so then she will need to have loan papers to sign as well.  The attorney will do the closing for all of this in his office and will take approximately 45 minutes.  Since there is no commission being paid and no other real estate fees other than the attorney fees it should be pretty simple.  I doubt that the lender (if there is one) will want an appraisal or require any inspections.  There will also be no need for a survey since this is more of a legal matter than a new purchase.

Good luck with this.

Sincerely,
Jessica Bryan
Managing Broker
House to Home Realty Services

Buying or Selling a Home

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Jessica Bryan

Expertise

buying and selling process such as:
General questions from first time buyers
How to market a home
Why choose a REALTOR
How do I find a REALTOR
Should I consider buying or selling without a REALTOR--how much can I save
Should I remodel or move
How much can I expect to gain by fixing up my home before selling
Helpful tips when selling
Helpful tips when buying
finding a good mortgage loan
what is the difference between banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers
Questions from the general public, people thinking about getting their real estate license, newly licensed.
Fellow professionals who have interests in networking and how to get started
What is a market evaluation and how does it differ from an appraisal what are the different loan programs
services a REALTOR can perform
when to use a lawyer
when to use escrow
what are the regional differences in the buying and selling process
what is the MLS and how does it work
how can the layman access information on the web--listings and other information
These are just a few of the questions. I can suggest that if I am unable to answer a question I will refer the inquiry to a source that can.

Experience

Anyone who is in this business and who dedicates oneself to professionalism has continued to take classes and along with it,additional credentials, awards and honors. I can list a host of them, but my greatest accomplishments happen to be those of getting first time buyers (who didn't think they could afford to buy a home)into a home of their dreams. The look on their faces when I hand over the keys is worth all of the hard work.

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