ABA Family Legal Guide

Buying and Selling a Home

Introduction to Buying and Selling a Home

Why is the purchase or sale of a home more complicated than buying or selling some other object, such as an expensive car?

Items of personal property, such as cars and boats, have different characteristics from real estate. Personal property is usually movable and, in many cases, owned for a relatively short period of time. Possession of personal property also is a strong indicator of ownership. Real estate, also known as real property or simply land, cannot be moved and possession does not necessarily mean ownership. For example, even if real estate is fenced in, it may be difficult to distinguish a neighbor's property from your own. And even if a person owns real estate, he or she may not have possession of it; for example, if it is being rented to someone else.

It is true that both types of transactions raise tax and financing considerations. However, because of the differences between real and personal property, the law treats transactions involving each differently. Some of those differences are that agreements regarding the sale of real estate must be in writing to be enforceable; absent consumer protection laws or special representations of the seller, real property is sold "as is"; foreclosing real property is usually more difficult than repossessing an item of personal property; and real estate is taxed differently from personal property.