From Quit Claim deeds, to Warranty deeds to Special Warranty Deeds, the skilled land buyer understands the subtle and not so subtle differences of each.First of all, let’s look at the worst deed — the Quit Claim deed. A Quit-Claim Deed is a general release of all claims or rights to a parcel of land. Of the different types of deeds, the Quit-Claim has the least assurance that the person receiving it will actually get any rights. A Quit-Claim deed does not release the party quitting claim to real property from their obligations under any mortgage or other lien secured against said property. Basically, if the seller insists on using a Quit-Claim deed, either run away or do your due diligence to the point you are absolutely certain there are no liens or encumbrances on the title of the land.

A better deed, but not ideal is the Special Warranty deed. A Special Warranty Deed warrants only that no party made a claim to the property during the seller’s ownership. Under a Special Warranty Deed, the seller is not liable for any defects in the title attributable to his predecessors. So, if the Seller offers you a Special Warranty Deed, you had better make sure a title company does a thorough title search to make absolutely certain there are no liens or encumbrances from before the current Seller owned the property.

My favorite and safest deed– The Warranty Deed. In a general Warranty Deed, the grantor warrants the title against all defects, regardless of whether those defects existed before the grantor took title, or arose while the grantor held title. Basically, a general Warranty Deed screams to the Buyer, “Hey look, we guarantee this title is free and clear!” However, you’ll always sleep better with a title search and title insurance in your name. We will talk about dealing with title companies in another post.