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

Written agreement in which the lessee pays rent to the lessor for the use of real property for a stated time period. An example is the tenant's rental of an apartment or office space. ...

A step's edge. ...

List of business property. ...

Land zoned for industrial use including manufacturing, factory office and warehouse space, research and development. ...

Structure built into the water from the land providing a facility for boats to tie up. A dock will often provide utility access ...

Right of an individual to be offered something before it is offered to others. For example, a tenant whose apartment is going to be converted to a cooperative has the first right of ...

Situation in which a business debts exceed the fair market value of its assets. ...

The individual responsible for an escrow account. ...

A roof having two slopes on each side. The second slope is longer than the first part of the roof and extremely steep. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions