Walk It Through: The First House
A disclosure form, a lien from the seller's roofer, a fence to share, and the neighbor's dog.
A couple signs a purchase agreement on a house. The seller hands over the condition disclosure form the same day.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One purchase. Title insurance, closing costs, and a bite on the owner's own property by a trespasser are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Construction lienA contractor's or supplier's lien on the property it improved, which does not attach unless recorded no later than one hundred twenty days after the final furnishing of services or materials.
- Disclosure statementA written statement of a home's condition that a seller of one to four dwelling units signs and delivers on or before the contract binding the buyer.
- Just proportionAn equitable share of a division fence between adjoining landowners, either a share of the fenceline or of its cost, equal unless otherwise agreed.