Definition of "Bill of sale"

Stephen Fivecoat real estate agent

Written by

Stephen Fivecoatelite badge icon

Ultima Real Estate

A Bill of Sale is a formal document of the sale of goods or the transfer of title for personal property and chattel from one party to another.

In sum, a bill of sale is a sort of receipt. It can be complex or simple, depending on the asset being sold or transferred and the conditions behind. A soda that you buy at a quick-mart, will warrant you that simple paper receipt detailing the seller’s information and the description of the product and its price. But when it comes to real estate, the bill of sale gets more complex.

Generally registered at the county office to make it official, the bill of sale fully describes the asset sold, localizing its lot lines and features, and basically states that the property has been paid for – showing receipts of payment and that no outstanding lien exists on it. In possession of this written bill of sale – that can be of something like 3 to 10 pages long, the buyer has a receipt for the right to sell the property at a later date.

Unfortunately, however, there are cases when the bill of sale is not enough, as an old undiscovered lien from a homeowner years before you might surface at a later date. That’s why is important, when buying a house, to have title insurance to make the legal proceedings faster and less expensive, and clear yourself of lien problems, redirecting them to the home seller.

Real Estate Agent:

Visit our Real Estate Questions page and figure out if any of your real estate doubts match the frequently asked ones!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

A mortgage loan is nothing more than a real estate debt instrument. Acquiring a mortgage loan is the most common method of financing a home in America. The benefits are tremendous and ...

Insurance contract providing coverage for risks primarily associated with negligence and acts of omission associated with third-party injuries or property losses. Property and casualty ...

The appraisal approach is used to estimate the value of an asset, based on various factors to reach the closest educated guess of the asset. While an appraisal approach does consider the ...

Insurance affording protection against losses due to damage to or destruction of property or contents therein. Insurance protects assets and any future income thereon from loss, such as a ...

Six-mile-wide column of land running north-south in rectangular survey system ...

“What is Rent Control?”, you ask.Rent Control is how some governmental policies that prevent the Landlord from abusively raising the rent are called in the real estate ...

Evaluation of housing requirements based on family size, ages, occupations, marital status, and other population characteristics. ...

Stigmatized property is a property that home buyers might back off on closing a deal due to factors that are not related to the property’s price, structural/aesthetic conditions and ...

(1) Craft of one who fabricates fine cabinets, furniture, or woodwork. (2) General term describing interior wood finish work performed by cabinetmakers instead of carpenters. (3) Built-in ...

Popular Real Estate Questions