Tax Deeds

There are many types of deeds that a real estate investor should be familiar and knowledgeable. To name a few, there are tax deeds, property deeds, grant deeds, warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds.

A tax deed is defined as the deed that is offered to a grantee for failure to pay property taxes. A tax deed is given to the highest bidder at a public auction for the sale of a property due to unpaid taxes in a specified time. Tax deeds are used in the tax deed sale process.

Property deed on the other hand is a legal document to assign an ownership of real property. This is also used to transfer a property from one person to the other.

A grant deed is another type used to transfer a property title. In the grant deed, the seller has to certify that the property has not been sold to anybody else and that the property is not burdened by any added encumbrances. The main elements of a grant deed are the names of seller and buyer, transfer title, description of the property and signature of both seller and buyer.

Warranty deeds are similar to grant deeds except that the warranty deed has 3 guarantees namely: the seller states that the property has not been sold to anybody else, that the property has no added encumbrances and the seller must guarantee that the property title is secured against other claims. This means that the title is certified to be free of any defects.

Lastly, the quitclaim deed is usually used in the case of divorce or in cases where the married owner is selling off a property obtained before marriage. For example, the owner who obtained a property before marriage is selling a particular property to another person, the spouse will be asked to sign a quitclaim deed. This is to prevent the spouse from going after the property after the sale is made.

Take note that all deeds should have the following important contents:

1) The deed must have a seller and a buyer and both should be able to enter into legal contracts.

2) The deed must have a legal description.

3) The deeds must be in writing and should bear a title to a real property.

4) The seller must duly sign the deed.

5) The deed should be recorded and the buyer has to sign to accept the deed.

You must be familiar with at least the deeds mentioned above, as they are widely used terms in real estate. The tax deed is important especially if you plan to invest in the tax deed sales.