How to transfer deed of home to a friend?

Question

I have two loans on the property and I have sole interest currently in the home. I want to deed the home over to a friend for the same amount I owe on it. Is this something that can be done? I want to make sure in doing this that it releases me entirely from any liability.

Answer 1

You cannot transfer your mortgage over.    Your friend needs to buy the house from you and obtain their own loan to cover the cost.

DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEED ONLY

Answer 2

If I understand this correctly.  You want to sell your house to a friend for the amount that you owe on it so that you are no longer responsible.

This needs to be a simple sale since you can't just transfer title.

Write a simple sales agreement with your friend.  Call your bank and get payoff balances to figure the sales price.

Have a settlement or escrow company do the work.  It will cost about 500, but as the seller and the buyer, I wouldn't do it myself.  

If the buyer is getting a loan, then they will require that a title company does the work.

If the buyer is paying cash, he should still have a title company do the work and do a title search.

There will be closing costs including transfer taxes.

Answer 3

see a lawyer to get this right so it doesn't come back to haunt you!

Answer 4

It's different in every State.  If you're in California you can do it all yourself but it would better to have an escrow company handle it.

Answer 5

You really should either hire a real estate attorney or title company to handle the closing to make sure that the deed is proper and recorded and that your loans are paid off from proceeds of the sale (your friend's cash or loan).

If you were thinking you could just quit claim deed it to your friend and have your friend take over your payments, that would not get you out of loan liability (liens for the loans would still apply to the property), and would likely make your loans immediately due and payable (due on transfer clause), unless your loans are assumable (unusual nowdays).