Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers a reader question regarding whether the buyer should accept a Fiduciary Deed in Wisconsin for a cheap property the buyer is looking to purchase for cash.
Transcript of Video: Should I Accept a Fiduciary Deed for a Cheap Property I am Looking to Buy for Cash?
Today I'm going to ask some real reader
questions that have come in in the past
few months because I think many of these
questions will be instructive to other
people listening so this is a question
from earlier this month the buyer says
I'm looking at buying a cheap property
for cash the current owner has a
fiduciary deed what type of deed do I
get from him and the questioner goes on
to explain a little bit more the real
estate in question was owned by the
gentleman's father who passed away a
year ago he has no interest in the home
and wants to sell it for cash so if I
buy the property from the son who has
this fiduciary deed what type of deed
will I be getting my understanding is a
warranty deed is the best for a buyer
can I get one of these from him? So the
answer to this question is you can
probably not get a warranty deed for
this property the reason is that the
warranty deed contains certain
warranties of title this is the type of
deed you want to get when you're buying
a home or other real estate and you
obtain title insurance with it from the
home owner if however you're buying a
property from an estate the son in this
case did not live in the home therefore
we generally don't hold him to the same
standard as someone who lived there like
the homeowner if the son is the personal
representative under the Will he will
likely supply this buyer with what we
call it fiduciary deed in this case in Wisconsin
it's either a personal
representatives deed for a personal
representative acting under a Will or if
the son was acting under a trust
instrument it might be called a trustees
deed these deeds are acceptable the
difference is that they do not contain
the warranties of title so if you are a
buyer of such a property you may want to
make sure you get a good home inspection
and title insurance when you
buy the property the reason is the son in
this scenario the personal
representative does not have the
knowledge of the property that his
father would have had who presumably
lived there for many years therefore the
son is just going to sell it to you as
the personal representative on behalf of
the estate now this is a valid title
transfer as he's acting in his fiduciary
capacity as personal representative but
if you're a buyer of such property make
sure you protect yourself by getting a
home inspection so you know exactly what
you're buying and I also suggest title
insurance in order to defend you if
there were some claim against the title
later great question and thank you
reader for asking!
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
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