The Nantucket seller's checklist: every document and certificate, in the order you'll need them
A sale moves through three stages: before you list, when you sign the purchase and sale agreement, and the weeks before closing. Each has its own paperwork. Gather the first group before the house goes on the market and the rest becomes routine.
Before you list: the file buyers will ask for
A buyer's attorney will pull most of this from the town and the Registry anyway. Having it in hand first means you find the surprises before they do.
- How you hold title. Your deed, and if the house is in a trust or an LLC, the trust or entity documents that show who can sign.
- A survey or plot plan, if you have one, showing the house, the lot lines and anything close to them.
- Permits and certificates of occupancy for the house and for every addition or renovation since you've owned it.
- Historic District Commission approvals for exterior work. The commission reviews exteriors across the whole island.
- Septic or sewer. If the house is on town sewer, proof of the connection. If it's on septic, the system's records and the date of its last inspection.
- Flood zone information, and an elevation certificate if one exists.
- Rental history, if the house has been rented: recent seasons' income, next season's bookings and your registration paperwork.
- Utility and carrying costs for the last year. Buyers ask.
- A list of what stays. Furnishings, the outdoor furniture, the generator. Decide before the first showing.
When you sign the purchase and sale agreement
Two state requirements land here.
The lead paint notification, for houses built before 1978. Under state and federal law, the seller and the agent give the buyer the Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification before the purchase and sale agreement is signed. You also hand over any lead inspection reports or compliance letters you have and tell the buyer what you know about lead in the house, and both sides sign the certification page. If you know nothing about lead in the house, you say so. The obligation is to notify, not to test.
The Title 5 inspection, for houses on a septic system. The system has to be inspected within two years before the sale. If it has been pumped every year since the inspection and you have the records, the inspection holds for three years. Only a state-approved inspector counts, the report goes to the Board of Health within 30 days, and the buyer gets a copy. When weather makes a winter inspection impossible, the rules allow it up to six months after the sale, provided the buyer is told in writing. Most buyers want the report in hand before they sign, so the practical time to order it is before you list. A house on town sewer doesn't need one.
Before closing
- The smoke and carbon monoxide certificate. Every home sale needs a certificate of compliance from the local fire department. The state's guidance is to call the department as soon as you have a closing date. What your house needs depends on when it was built and when its last building permit was issued, so find those dates first. Battery alarms more than ten years old have to be replaced with sealed ten-year photoelectric units. The department charges a fee and inspects in person.
- The Transferor's Certification, on any sale of $1 million or more. Every seller signs one and gives it to the closing attorney on or before closing, including Massachusetts residents. For sellers who live outside the state, it's also where an exemption or the lower withholding calculation is claimed.
- Final water and sewer readings, so the last bills are settled at closing.
- Payoff figures for any mortgage or line of credit, which your closing attorney requests from the lender.
- Trust, LLC or estate paperwork your attorney needs to show who is signing. If an owner on the deed has died, clearing the state's estate tax lien is part of this, and it takes time.
- Keys, codes, manuals and warranties, plus the caretaker's and the vendors' names if the buyer wants them.
What the buyer's side is doing at the same time
It helps to know what's happening across the table, because each of these touches your calendar.
- Inspections, usually in the first two weeks after the offer is accepted. The house needs to be open, with the water and heat on.
- The title search. The buyer's attorney reads the deeds, plans and liens on record at the Registry. An old mortgage that was paid but never formally discharged is a common find, and an easy one to fix with time.
- The town's file. The same attorney, or the buyer's agent, reads the building, health and historic commission records for the house.
- The appraisal and insurance, if the buyer is financing. The appraiser needs access, and the buyer's insurer will ask about the flood zone, the roof and the heating system.
- The final walk-through, a day or two before closing, to confirm the house is in the condition the agreement describes and that what's staying has stayed.
The island items that take the longest
Three things cause most of the delays on Nantucket sales, and all three can be handled before you list.
The septic inspection. There are only so many approved inspectors on an island, and a failed or conditional report can mean repairs before closing. Ordering it early turns a possible crisis into a line item.
The permit file. A deck, an outdoor shower or a finished basement that never got a permit, or an exterior change the historic commission never saw, tends to surface when the buyer's attorney reads the town's file. Read it first.
A closed-up house. The fire department, the septic inspector and the buyer's inspector all need to get in, and the last of them needs the water and heat on. If you live off-island, decide who opens the house and who meets them.