A deal falls apart three days before closing and everyone acts surprised. Almost always, the cause was sitting in the public record before the listing ever went live.
What a pre-listing review looks for
- Open and expired permits. The deck, the finished basement, the dormer — work that was permitted and never closed out. Resolving one can take months.
- Certificate of occupancy problems. A CO that does not match what is physically there, or no CO at all.
- Surviving liens and judgments. A judgment against the seller, an old mortgage never satisfied of record, an unpaid municipal charge.
- Estate and trust issues. Property still titled in a deceased owner’s name, an estate that was never fully administered, a trustee whose authority is unclear.
- Divorce and name issues. A prior spouse still on the deed, a name change that was never reflected in the record.
- Survey and boundary issues. Encroachments, a fence over the line, a driveway easement nobody documented.
Why timing matters so much
Every one of these is fixable. What is not fixable is discovering it with two weeks left on a rate lock. An open permit found in week one of a listing is an administrative task. The same permit found the week of closing is a price renegotiation or a dead deal.
How to use it
Order the review when you take the listing. If it comes back clean, you have a selling point. If it comes back with issues, you have time — and a specific, credible reason to have the seller start work now rather than argue about it later.
This article is educational and is not legal, tax or financial advice. New York practice, fees and filing requirements change; confirm current requirements before relying on anything here. For a question about a specific transaction, contact Viking Abstract.
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