Purchasing a new home can be an exciting experience. Thinking of how you’re going to decorate it, which bedroom is going to be yours and so forth can be what’s on your mind. However, during the purchase process, you’ll want to ensure that everything is done right to avoid future hiccups. This includes paying attention to potential legal issues. Here are three unusual issues you should look out for when buying a new home.

Strata Titling

If you’re considering purchasing a condo or other unit that is within a larger structure, you need to pay attention to the legal implications of doing so. Strata titling is a specific form of titling that is designated for horizontal subdivisions or multi-level apartment blocks. The concept is to give you legal ownership of the property, in this case, the unit, and combined ownership of the common area of the property, such as the foyers or driveways.

Future Survey Problems

When you purchase a new home, you’ll need to get a property survey as it’s required by most lenders. This requires a surveyor to research the legal description of the land and survey its history, They will proceed to go to the property and sketch out the boundaries, land, and various elements of the property. This survey is meant to explain where your legal property starts and ends. In the future, neighbors may have disputes about property lines. These can be legally negated by having a survey done prior to purchasing a home.

Improper Seller’s Disclosure

As part of the home buying process, it’s important to get a seller’s disclosure. This is a legal document that specifies the physical problems and defects with a home that you’re thinking about purchasing. It’s considered the seller’s legal duty to let you know about any potential or existing issues they have full knowledge about that could affect the overall value of the home. In the event that you purchase the home and find out afterward that the seller had previous knowledge of a major defect of the home and didn’t disclose it before the time of purchase, they can be held legally responsible for the damages.

The home buying process can be extremely difficult for those who’ve never purchased a home before. It makes sense to do some research to understand all aspects of the home buying process along with any issues that you may face so that you can better prepare yourself to avoid them. The above are three legal mishaps that can happen during a home purchase and you should be careful to avoid them at all costs.