Which Documents Do You Need to Sell a House?

Receipts for capital improvements

Capital improvements are things like kitchen and bath remodels, or big additions like a swimming pool or new roof. They mitigate the capital gains taxes you owe on your home sale by adding to your adjusted cost basis.

Figuring in capital improvements come tax time will be much easier if you’ve kept a record of improvements you made over the course of ownership of the house, so make sure you always hang onto those receipts. Don’t forget that capital improvements don’t include items necessary for the maintenance and repair of your home — only those improvements that have added to or increased your home’s value.

Manuals and warranties

Like the home repair and maintenance records, appliance manuals and warranties let the buyer know what shape they’re inheriting these items in when they move into their new home. You’ll want to provide the buyers with manuals and warranties for things like:

• Washers and dryers
• Refrigerators
• Dishwashers
• Stoves
• Garbage compactor/disposals

Past utility bills

Buyers will be curious to know how the electricity, gas, water, and sewer bills for your house shake out each month so they can budget accordingly. You’re not required to provide this information, but you can expect them to at least inquire about it. Consider offering them a copy of whatever records you have handy, whether it be hard or digital copies.

Documents needed when listing your home

Listing agreement

A listing agreement makes the arrangement between you and your real estate agent official and gives your agent the exclusive rights to sell your home within a given time frame.

The contract lays out the terms of how the real estate agent can promote your home. You will also grant the agent the rights to use the listing content, which includes photos, graphics, videos, drawings, virtual tours, written descriptions, and any other copyrightable elements relating to the property, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The terms involved in the agreement serve as the foundation of your entire real estate transaction, so read each line carefully.

Proposed marketing plan

Much like the listing agreement, the proposed marketing plan lays out how your agent will go about marketing and selling your home. The marketing plan offers a game plan for home showings, open houses, social media marketing, and promoting your home across the top real estate websites to capture buyers’ attention.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

Not sure how much your house could go for on the current real estate market? That’s why you hired an agent; they will generate a comparative market analysis report for you.

A comparative market analysis compiles all of the information about home sales in your immediate area including homes that are currently for sale, homes midway through transactions, and homes that sold recently.

Your agent will evaluate all of this data and be able to advise you on how much you should list your home for. This information is imperative before you put your home on the market, as a bad pricing strategy spells doom for your sale.

Seller’s net sheet

A seller’s net sheet is an organizational worksheet that your agent will fill out to show you how much you’ll pocket from your home sale after factoring in expenses like taxes, your real estate agent’s commission, your remaining mortgage, and escrow fees.

You might receive a seller’s net sheet more than once over the course of your transaction, most likely at the time of listing your property, and after you receive an offer, as the numbers will shift depending on how much your house sells for.

Documents to have ready while your home is on the market

Preliminary title report or “prelim”

A preliminary title report, or in real estate speak, a “prelim,” is a financial and legal summary document that tells you, the seller, if there’s anything outstanding on your property before you put your house on the market. In other words, it’s a precautionary report.

A “prelim” shows you what taxes are owed on the property, what kinds of conditions and restrictions are recorded on your property, etc. A “prelim” also preps you for disclosing these restrictions and information to your agent and your potential buyers. You can get a title report using the one of the four biggest title companies for a couple hundred dollars:

• Fidelity
• First American
• Stewart
• Old Republic

Disclosures

When you come to an agreement on a price with a buyer, transparency is important. You don’t want your buyer to move in unaware that the house you sold to them has lead-based paint or asbestos.

In fact, you are required to follow “mandatory disclosure” laws and make known to the buyer any hazards affecting the property before the sale is official.

Some examples of mandatory disclosures include:

• Lead-based paint
• Asbestos
• Environmental hazards such as oil, gas, or toxic chemicals
• Water damage
• Defects/malfunctions of major appliances or systems
• Neighborhood nuisances
• Past disputes over things like property lines or fencing

Pre-inspection report

You have the option to hire a home inspector for a pre-inspection to get ahead on any material defects that might come up later.

If you’re selling an older home, a pre-inspection can save you from any big surprises down the line, giving you time to complete needed repairs that the buyer’s inspection will eventually reveal anyway. However, a pre-listing inspection means you will have to disclose whatever the inspection turns up to buyers (in writing) before they make an offer.

Natural hazards report (California)

Put simply, the natural hazards report is a one page form containing “yes or no” questions about how hazardous your land and property is.

The state of California is more prone to events like mudslides, brush fires, and seismic movement, and this form provides buyers with an objective means of assessing risk. You must check off which hazards apply (if any) to your property, so that the buyer knows what kinds of damage the house has endured (and could face in the future). You don’t want to surprise buyers with a house right on the California fault lines. These hazards include:

• A Special Flood Hazard Area
• Dam Inundation
• Very High Fire
• Wildland fire
• Earthquake fault zone
• Seismic hazard
• Radon Gas exposure
• Airport influence area
• Megan’s Law disclosures
• Military ordinance

Documents needed when offers are made

Purchase offer and counteroffer forms

A purchase offer is a documented first step to a buyer closing on a home. The purchase offer lays out an acceptable agreement between the buyer and seller that is subject to amendments once the transaction moves into the latter stages. The purchase offer elaborates on details of a purchase such as the identification and specification of the property, as well as the price the buyer has offered to the seller for the house.

Final purchase and sale agreement

Together the buyers’ and seller’s real estate agents or real estate attorneys draft up the Final Purchase and Sale Agreement, a contract that states the selling price of the home, the terms of the purchase, the earnest money amount, the closing date, and any contingencies. Both the buyer and the seller need to agree to the terms and sign the document before they can move forward with the sale of the house.

Contingency removal form

A contingency is a clause in your real estate contract that needs to be met before the deal can close. However, a contingency removal is a document that shows which contingencies have been removed or satisfied from the contract. In other words, to show that a contingency has been waived or met, you’ll have to get the removal in writing.

Documents needed between contract and close

Home inspection report

You can count your buyers putting a home inspection contingency in the contract, which means they’ll arrange for an inspector to come through and evaluate the house before the deal can close.

A typical home inspection takes a few hours, and then the report takes about 3-4 days to complete. The home inspector goes through the interior and exterior of the house to record any broken, defected, or hazardous issues with the house and surrounding area.

Then, the inspector drafts up a home inspection report that spans about 30-50 pages in length (with pictures). The document details the state of your home’s structure, the electrical system, plumbing, heating, fireplaces, etc. Separate inspections and inspection reports like pool and pest inspections should also be included in your paperwork if your home requires them.

Home appraisal report

If your buyer is financing their home with a mortgage, the lender will require an appraisal to determine your home’s fair market value. After the appraiser evaluates your home, the appraisal report should come back in less than a week.

As the seller, you won’t automatically get a copy of the report, but you can request one, and the lender will have to provide it to you in 30 days time.

If the appraisal came in under the offer, your real estate agent will be able to fill you in on the details right away.

The report, which is typically about 10 pages or less (though some can stretch to 100 pages), will contain local comparable properties with photos and details of each property, including the home being appraised, the appraised value, how the appraiser determined the value, and what factors the appraiser took into consideration.

Final documents needed to sell a house

Most recent tax statement

You must provide property tax receipts to calculate any outstanding property taxes you owe on your house so the buyers can estimate the cost of taxes on their new property at the time of closing.

Whether or not you (or the buyers) will have to pay property taxes at the time of your home sale depends on your municipality’s real estate tax schedule. In some instances, cities and towns will collect taxes for the upcoming year, meaning that the sale of your home midway through the calendar could result in a refund.

In other states, homeowners pay property taxes “in arrears,” meaning you’re paying taxes for the time period leading up to the billing cycle. That could leave you with unpaid property taxes, and you are responsible for paying property taxes on your home up to (but not including) the day you close.

Seller’s estimated settlement statement (the closing statement)

Near the end of your transaction, a seller’s closing statement shows you how much money you’ll receive after accounting for closing costs, taxes, and other transaction fees on your home sale. The closing agent or title company will generate the closing statement.

The deed

“Deed” is not just an old-timey term that’s thrown around in Western films from the ’60s. A deed (not to be confused with the title, which isn’t a physical document but a legal concept that grants someone ownership of the home) is a physical legal document that officially transfers ownership (title) of a house from the seller to the buyer. The deed includes the identification of both parties as well as a thorough description of the property itself.

1099-S tax form

If you don’t qualify for the capital gains tax exclusion (which covers up to $250,000 of the net profit on your home sale, or up to $500,000 if filing jointly so long as certain criteria are met), then you will likely have to fill out a 1099-S form to report taxes owed to the IRS on the sale of your home come tax season.

Now you have the paperwork you need to sell

We never said selling your home would be easy, but we did say it would be worth it (just ask your bank account). The documents needed to sell a house are extensive and complicated. You’ll want an experienced real estate agent — and in some cases, a trusted real estate attorney — who’s decoding the jargon throughout the process. That way, all you have to do is “sign here.”

Don’t forget that every state has different requirements for documents needed to sell a house, so it’s advisable to work with an agent with experience in your area.

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