Quit Claim Deed :-O - Do's or Don't's???

Question

Interesting situation that I would love to hear comments about. So, I get a call from this seller who has a duplex for sale near downtown Atlanta, Ga. She sounds nice and told me a story that had me taken aback. It went something like this...

Seller: Hi Carl, I have a duplex that I want to sell located at ### main st. Atlanta I have a Quit Claim Deed and the Grant Deed should be in the mail this week. .....It's 2 units each with 3 beds 1 1/2 bath , 3,000 sqft 5 minutes from Downtown Atlanta.

First of all..(lol) It all sounded sketchy from the start ok, so by no means am I completely discrediting a Quit Claim Deed. However, It just took me by surprise and actually the 1st time receiving a call regarding a quit claim deed.

After speaking with my Attorney regarding the matter, she advised me to run a complete title search on the property to ensure the uncertainty. The marketing of a property and having a clean title is paramount in any real estate transaction. Time to me is more valuable than money, so having to pay $120 bucks to run a detailed title search to guarantee that my end buyer can purchase the property without hiccups or surprises... at the end of the day, it's totally worth the time, process and profits.

Happy investing!

Jonathan Frazier · Answer

A quit claim deed only conveys whatever interest the grantor has in the property to the grantee.  It makes no claims or guarantees that the grantor even owns the property.  It sounds like there are clouds on the title but you'll find out when your title search comes back.  Buyer beware!

Tyler Sterns · Answer

Take your title search to a title company and see if they will insure it. Explain who wants to convey the property to you through a quit claim deed, if they will insure it you should be ok to purchase the property.

Brad Woodall · Answer

I would probably make sure you do a full title search like your attorney advised. A QCD is one of the "weakest" forms of title transfer from my understanding.