Real Estate Contract

• Many real estate transfers begin with a contract to transfer the property. These contracts, also known as land sale contracts, must meet a set of requirements. The contract must be in written form, signed by each party, and this written contract needs to contain all important aspects of the contract: a description of the property, the two parties to the contract, the price, if any, and any specialized method of payment required. The contract can become an issue if one party wishes to back out of the transfer; a validly executed contract will give the other party the right to damages. If a seller tries to back out, in some cases the law will even compel the transfer of real estate based on the contract; this is known as "specific performance."
  
  

Property Title

• One prominent issue in nearly every real estate transfer is the property's state of title. "Title" refers to the ownership being passed on to the new owner. If someone other than the transferring party has some sort of ownership interest in the property -- for instance, a mortgage or other lien on the property -- the transferring party must typically disclose that interest to the transferee. Some transferees choose to check the title of the property via a "title search," an exploration of the line of past owners to ensure that the transferring party is the only owner. It can create a real issue if the transferring party does not hold complete title to the property.
  
  

Attached Fixtures

• The old and new owners of property may disagree over the ownership of items that have become attached to the property. When the old owner placed something on the property that actually became part of the property -- for instance, new bricks in a wall -- this item is known as a "fixture," part of the real estate that typically gets transferred along with the real estate. In deciding whether other items are fixtures, the law typically looks at how the item is attached to the property, how much trouble it would be to remove the item and whether the item has been customized in some way.
  
  

Valid Deed Transfer

• The actual transfer of property is accomplished when the transferring party transfers the deed to the property to the transferee. Like a real estate contract, the deed must be written and signed, with a clear description of the property. Deed issues may also arise if the deed doesn't show the transferring party's intention to actually transfer the property.