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

Legal obligation to pay taxes associated with owning property or earning income. For example, a real estate owner must pay property taxes. ...

The term over-improvement in real estate defines a substantial and somewhat exaggerated land improvement compared to other properties in the area. For example, an individual builds at a ...

People say time is money. The old-age cliche applies more than ever in our case as we define what the Time Value of Money (TVM) means.  You’ll find the term time value for money ...

Government owned lands, for conservation purposes or for specific uses such as dams and hydropower. Public lands are owned by federal, state, and local governments. Many public lands are ...

Flood insurance is a type of home insurance created to protect a homeowner’s property against damages caused by floods. Flood insurance is typically not included in the regular ...

Form of real estate organization created by an agreement between two or more individuals who contribute capital and/or their services. Advantages are: it is easily established with minimal ...

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 ...

Small furnace placed between the studs of a wall. It is typically electric, but in the past more frequently was gas. ...

Tax deduction permitted upon the transfer of property from one spouse to another. The deduction is allowed under the federal gift tax for lifetime transfers or under the federal estate tax ...

Popular Real Estate Questions