Colorado if it matters. Las Animas County if it really matters.
I want to buy a few acres of undeveloped land for $1000 cash. I have the legal description from the last county assessor tax bill and title is not a problem (I know all about title insurance).
So what is the process for the bill of sale, filing with the county, etc to put it in my name?
This bookhas the answers to those questions and much, much more.
An attorney or a title company, sometimes called an escrow company, can help you. I assume you have the land picked out and the seller wants to sell? If not, visit a real estate office.
At its most basic, a deed is drawn up that describes the property, names the seller and the buyer and gives the terms of sale. This is signed, (usually) notarized, and filed with the county Registry of Deeds.
You absolutely should spend some time at that Registry of Deeds (almost always located in the town that is the County seat, which in the case of Las Animas county is Trinidad). You can look at typical recent deeds and most importantly can obtain the past deeds for your property. This is how you learn about mortgages (and their satisfaction), liens, encumbrances, rights-of-way, possible property line uncertainties, and other things a prospective buyer needs to know.
Defnintely NOT the sort of things a casual land buyer is qualified to handle. I highly advise the OP to seek professional advice from either an attorney or a title company which routinely handles such matters. The cost is minimal for simple transactions and the risks to the ignorant are great. This is no time to play pretend lawyer.
IANAL, but I am a Realtor, and while I probably know more about the subject than many, I still seek professional advice when appropriate.
Though he may sometimes need help in interpreting what he learns, I’d be hard pressed to say why any buyer should avoid taking note of pertinent details about property he’s proposing to buy.
I’ve seen several cases where professionals (real estate agents and lawyers) overlooked information that was easily available by checking past deeds and related documents. This has included such things as incorrect description of property lines (mis-transcribed in an old deed and copied, without checking, into subsequent deeds). Another case involved failure to note that the satisfaction of a mortgage had been improperly recorded.
The sad truth is that those professionals are sometimes lazy and careless. How can it ever be a bad idea to check easily available info at its source prior to entering into a multi-thousand-dollar transaction?
Nothing wrong with checking it. Everything wrong with relying on it.
If you’re saying that any info should be cross-checked, I’ll agree.
But if you’re saying that when an existing document (e.g. a deed) conflicts with what a lawyer or real estate agent says, the professional should be assumed to be correct, I’ll strongly disagree.
If there’s any disagreement that can’t be resolved, you will probably end up in court. What would you like to back your position up then? Your armchair knowledge or a trained professional?
I have just finished working with a surveyor on a local property. Since more modern surveys require more and better points of reference, he found a 13 foot discrepancy between the written, courthouse-recorded property description and the correct one. Are you qualified to determine that? I’m not. I don’t have the knowledge or the instruments. My surveyor does and my attorney does, and I pay them to be as correct as possible. Small price to pay.
BTW, the courthouse (deed) description was corrected, using the surveyor’s wording and the attorney’s language. About 100 nearby properties are likely to have the wrong description as well, and over time, they will probably be corrected, too.
One of the best ways to stay out of court is to identify possible problems as early as possible, and to insist on their resolution before proceeding.
One of the first things I’d like is for the trained professional to take a look at any document that seems at variance with his position, and see if he has an explanation. He certainly should have one, since no true professional would overlook an easily obtained and relevant piece of information. Yet because I’ve seen this happen more than once, I’d want to check in every case.
I see no disadvantage to such checking apart from the small amount of time it requires. Failure to check can obviously be quite costly.
A title company may put funds in escrow until the transaction is consummated, but it is not an escrow company. It is much more. It insures that you have good title to the land subject to the exceptions noted in the policy.
Mistakes can be, and are, made, either by you, a lawyer, or a title company. But the title company indemnifies you in event of error and will try to defend your title, if defensible. Of course, if a lawyer is negligent, he is held accountable, but what are his assets? That’s why I strongly encourage prospective buyers to get a title policy through a title company.
Forged documents are also possibility, for which title companies will be held liable.
In addition to possible overlooked matters, the laws of various states vary as to dower and homestead rights. A grantor on a deed may sign as a widow, but his wife may still be alive with possible dower rights. That’s fraud, but the title policy will indemnify you without you having to sue the grantor, who may be long dead in the chain of title. In addition, there are possibly other matters that the record won’t disclose that affect title: unrecorded mechanics’ liens, for example. Such matters as mechanics’ liens do not have to be recorded. These are usually provided for by state law, but possession is the same as recording, and vice versa. Hence, there may be unrecorded easements, but are valid because they are visible. Most notably, easements for land-locked parcels over your land for ingress and egress. That’s why inspection is such an important detail before buying.
Having said that title companies’ policies is the best policy 
an attorney will pick up on inspection reports that a title company may not do, unless you pay extra for it, and get extended coverage. The typical title insurance policy will exclude matters not of record.
In some states the work you describe is performed by “Escrow” companies, whether they are named such formally or called such informally. Not all states are alike in such transactions. That’s the only reason I mentioned that.