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At the closing, money changes hands, and then the seller transfers ownership of the property to you. That transfer involves two elements:
- Title is a legal concept of ownership. When you hold title to a property, it means you own that property. There are several different ways you can hold title.
- The deed is a written document that records the title. It says in black and white who owns the property. The final step in the sale of a house is when your escrow officer or attorney records the deed with your local property office.
To prepare for this transfer of ownership, you need to do two things:
- Make sure that the seller is really the property's owner and has a legal right to sell you the property.
- Decide what you want the deed to say about your ownership of the property - that is, how you'll hold title.
