Home Sale Law in Vermont
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 Burlington, Vermont 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.
Some Burlington, Vermont 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 Burlington, Vermont
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 Burlington, Vermont 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 Burlington, Vermont real estate attorney can help you focus on the positive aspects, and avoid dealing with the most difficult and tedious (but nonetheless necessary) aspects.