If you’re considering selling your home, you may want to seriously consider having your title examine before you stick the “FOR SALE” sign in the front yard. Title clouds, also called title defects, affect over 45% of home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Of that 45%, half of the defects are considered serious and complicated to repair. Your best course of action is to hire a real estate attorney who has experience working with titles. A real estate attorney will work with a title company to review your existing title and determine if there are any problems that may present themselves when you go to sell.

Title defects can cause long delays in the closing process ore even scare off your potential buyers altogether. You may be thinking that you don’t need to clear your title first, because you purchased that title insurance policy when you bought your house, In fact, home owner’s policies only cover up to the point of your purchase. But what could happen after you purchase a house that would lead to a title cloud?

· Unrecorded mortgages discharge: Occurs when the seller has paid off a mortgage, but the completion hasn’t been recorded

· Incorrectly recorded discharge: The seller has completed paying a mortgage but the discharge was incorrectly recorded

· Missing Mortgage Assignments: these record the transfer of a loan from one institution to another

· Missing Deed

If you have ever refinanced your house or taken out a second mortgage, you should be particularly aware that complications might arise during the purchaser’s title search.

If you didn’t this time around, make sure that you keep all documents that pertain to the purchase of your property, including the original deed in case you ever sell again. Having the appropriate documents can ensure that any glitches in a future titles search can be quickly resolved.

When selling your house, you will be working with a real estate attorney at some point. It may pay off for you to hire them early in the game and have them clear your title before you ever get started.

An attorney can guide you through the complications that might arise with a title and usually has a title search company that they have a comfortable, effective relationship with, which can help the process go faster and more smoothly. Title clouds hold up or even stop the sell of house every year. Advanced planning with your real estate attorney can make sure that your home’s purchase doesn’t fall through, and that you don’t loose out on your next home purchase because of delay from the selling of your previous house.