Sell Your House Fast in Philadelphia County, PA - We Buy Houses Near You for Cash

The Department of Records is the recorder of deeds for Philadelphia and maintains the city's recorded public documents, most of which relate to real estate. The document types it holds include deeds, mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, mortgage releases and easements. Ask whoever handles your closing which recorded documents they intend to pull for your file.

The Department of Records maintains recorded documents from the late 17th century to the present. Records from before 1973 may have to be pulled from the City Archives or require special handling, so allow time if the chain of title on your house is an old one.

The Department of Records states that recorded documents are not searchable until two to four weeks after recording. Keep your own stamped copy in the meantime, and give the document ID number to whoever is running the search so the correct instrument is located.

The Department of Records lists a deed recording fee of $278.75, and $43.75 for a deed involving a deceased spouse or partner. Copies of recorded legal documents are $2 per page and certification of a copy is $2 per document. A copy of a plot plan is $10.

The combined rate is 4.578 percent: 3.578 percent City plus 1 percent Commonwealth. It is due when the sale document is presented for recording. The City states the tax is usually split evenly between buyer and seller, that this is not a legal requirement, and that it can collect the full amount from either party.

For information about tax, water, L&I or other similar liens, and about legal judgments, the Department of Records directs you to the Judgments and Liens Index Office rather than the deed room. The Department of Records also states that title insurance companies perform title searches. Ask your closing professional which searches are being run.

Selling a house in Philadelphia County begins with a plain question: what would make a sale useful to you? You may want to stop managing repairs, finish a move that has stalled, settle a shared responsibility among owners, or compare a direct purchase against a listing. Write that objective down before you look at any number. Note the date you would like to be out, what has to stay available until then, and any term that would make an agreement unworkable for you.

As-Is Home Buyer reviews properties in their current condition. Tell us what you know about the building, how it is being used now, and who can authorize a sale. A polished description is not needed. A roof leak, an unfinished room, a disconnected utility, or a house still full of belongings is useful information. Describe what you have observed rather than diagnosing something you have not had inspected. Photographs help a first conversation; they do not replace a review of the property and of the proposed agreement.

Philadelphia County and the City of Philadelphia share the same boundaries. The City's own hazard mitigation plan puts it plainly: the City of Philadelphia is coterminous to Philadelphia County, meaning the City and County share the same boundaries. That is why a county page here is also a city page. The records, the taxes and the inspections all sit with one government, so choose the page that matches the actual property rather than the mailing address you happen to use.

The Department of Records is the recorder of deeds for Philadelphia. Its own service page states that as the recorder of deeds it maintains public records and documents, and that the majority of documents people record are related to real estate. Deeds, mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, mortgage releases and easements are all held there. Start by locating the recorded document that actually belongs to the house, then keep it with the rest of your file.

Online searching runs through Philadox, the City's document search system, which covers deeds and other property records from 1974 to the present; a one-day subscription is listed at $15. Recorded documents from before 1974 are obtained by mail or in person rather than online, and records dated before 1973 may have to be pulled from the City Archives or require special handling. Build that difference into your schedule instead of discovering it during a closing week.

To request a copy, the Department of Records asks for the property address, the grantor, the grantee, the deed date and the document ID number for records from 1973 to the present. Copies are handled at City Hall, Room 154, 1400 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Plats showing property lines are available in City Hall, Room 168. Write down which of those you already hold.

The Department of Records draws a line in its own frequently asked questions that matters at settlement: for information about tax, water, L&I or other similar liens, or about legal judgments, it directs you to the Judgments and Liens Index Office. The deed room answers what was conveyed and when. It does not answer what is owed. Treat those as two separate questions with two separate sources and two separate answers on your worksheet.

The Department of Records FAQ states that title insurance companies perform title searches, and its Record-a-deed page recommends that you get title insurance, and recommends that you do not prepare a deed on your own. Ask the person handling your closing which search they will run, what period it covers, and what it will not cover, and get that scope in writing rather than as a summary over the phone.

Two related points prevent arguments later. Paying off a mortgage does not produce a new deed; the lender records a satisfaction or release of mortgage and sends a copy. Changing a name on an existing deed requires a new deed to be prepared and recorded. If a document in your possession does not match what you expected to find, raise it before you agree to terms rather than after a settlement date is set.

A cash offer is more than a number. Check who the buyer is in law, that the property described is the property you own, how much deposit is held and by whom, what inspection rights exist, when each of the two dates falls, and on what grounds either side may change or cancel. Ask how a repair concern found during the review will be handled. Where an explanation and the document disagree, it is the document that governs, so have the document changed.

Philadelphia's combined realty transfer tax is 4.578 percent, made up of 3.578 percent City and 1 percent Commonwealth, and the City states it is due when you present the sale document for recording. The City also states that the tax is usually split evenly between the buyer and the seller, that this is not a legal requirement, and that it has the right to collect 100% of the tax from either party. Get that division in writing.

Exemptions are narrow. Most real estate transfers between spouses, between direct ascendants and descendants, and between siblings are exempt from the tax, while properties purchased from an estate are not exempt. Easements and long-term leases of 30 or more years are among the ownership documents that trigger it. Ask your closing professional to apply the rule to your own file rather than to a transaction someone described to you.

Say who is living in the property and who holds a key, because those are not necessarily the same person and neither is necessarily you. Access and occupancy belong to the appropriate professional and to whatever agreement already governs the property, and both should be settled before a purchase agreement promises anything about entry or about a hand-over date.

Ownership questions deserve the same care. Where the deed shows anything other than one living individual, whether that is co-owners, a trust, an estate or a company, say so at the start. The City is explicit that if the owner named on the deed is deceased, the estate must be opened and probated at the Register of Wills before the title can transfer. Where a corporation, partnership or other entity conveys the property, an authorized officer must sign the document.

Recording carries its own requirements. The document must be for a Philadelphia property and contain a metes-and-bounds description and the street address. It must have an acknowledgement by a notary public showing state, county, date, the persons appearing, the notary signature and the notary expiration date. The consideration stated must be total and complete, with numerical amounts matching written amounts, and recording in person requires an appointment.

An inquiry needs the address, a way to reach you, a short description of condition and whatever timing you have in mind. It does not need documents, and a general inquiry form is the wrong place for sensitive ones. The purpose of a first exchange is to establish what has to happen next and where it should be sent, and you can stop at any point in the review that follows.

If other routes are still open, price them in the same terms. A listing has preparation, access for viewings, marketing, professional fees and a schedule set partly by other people. Keeping the property has carrying costs and responsibilities that continue. A figure produced for an improved house answers a different question from a figure for the house as it stands, and every number put in front of you sits on assumptions worth asking about.

For a Philadelphia County property the number above and the offer form both reach us, and nothing you send has to be complete before we start looking at it. Read the whole agreement rather than the figure at the top of it, and involve an adviser of your own where the decision calls for one. An inquiry begins a review and ends with you better informed, whatever you then decide.