Looking to buy family vacation home - deeds / no-deeds

[jklondon]

Looking to purchase a villa for our own use.

When it comes to deeds I am heavily leaning on resale, a lot of properties have land (or shared land) deeds but nothing for the property itself.

Is this normal?

Can deeds be applied for the actual property on top of the land (shared land) and how painful is that process?

Txs
JK

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi JK

Yes - restrict your search to property with Title Deeds to avoid possible (and costly) issues.

The reason some properties have land/shared land is that the property itself has not been added to the deed. There are various reasons why the property has not been added. Some could be delayed by bureaucracy - others by something more serious such as building without planning approval.

If you want to buy a property that has not been added to the deed, it's absolutely essential that your lawyer investigates and uncovers the reason so that you can make an informed decision.

A shared land is owned by more than one person such as a husband & wife, brother & sister, possibly several family members. The actual building can be added to the deed (where possible) but each owner of the land will have a share of the land AND the building.

Regards,