There might be ,as it has always been,latent problems and booby traps in the title of the holder of land being transferred to a buyer that might be hidden to the eyes of the ordinary buyer. For example, the seller who is about to dispose his interest in land might not be the owner of the land. The question is how will the buyer find out? At times the seller might have been the owner in the past but had already disposed his interest in the land to someone else but now trying to fraudulently resale the land to you without the owner's consent and authority. Again the parcel of land being sold might have become subject of Government's interest or his right and interests might have been revoked for overiding public interes in line with the law. The land may also be communial land owned by the family or the community but the seller wants to oulk a fast one on them and sell it as his personal land. In law no part of family or Community land belongs to individual members. It is owned collectively and the law provided for how such land could be sold and bought without problem. Thus no individual family member can sell family land as his own. There could be a third party interest over the land night inhibit the sell. So many of such problems might be present in the land without the buyer knowing about them These factors are called encumbrances and could inhibit land purchases, so a buyer is legally bound to ensure that none is involved in the land he is intending to buy. If inadvertently or negligently goes ahead to buy land tainted by any ot the listed factors above he will certainly be buying a lawsuit instead of interest in land. What then will he do to buy do to buy land devoid of the above problems? A buyer who desires to buy clean title to land must follow the legal steps discussed below:

Negotiation of the Price of the Land.

This is usually the first stage of land transaction. It follows the receipt of an offer to buy land from the seller. It is the stage at which the terms and conditions of the purchase is settled. Deposit of the price agreed upon is made at the conclusion of negotiation. The parties may put their agreement in writing or not and this would depend on the law guiding buying and selling. Aof land This stage is followed by property search.

A buyer must Conduct Diligent Search on the land.

Some people may choose to call this act due process. It simply entails trying to confirm if the seller has good title to the land. It follows the stage of negotiation. This process is very very important in that any buyer who fails to conduct due diligence does so at his own rist. What will the buyer do in this case?

The things that the buyer will do at this stage depends on the nature of the land being sold. He would have sighted the land he wants to buy and must have negotiated the price of the l Consequently he must demand and receive
(a) photocopy of the document of title ( commonly called land document) relating to the land from the seller to do his search. If a lawyer has not been involved in the purchase before this time the document is passed to his lawyer to read and render the necessary legal advice.

Sometimes purchasers ingnorantly choose to proceed on their own.It is advised that such steps should be avoided. Such recalcitrant buyer by so doing will be stepping on banana peels.Always work with a lawyer in such transactions.

After collecting the title document proceed to the land office armed with the document if the seller registered his title previously together with an application to the Registrar of Deeds for search on the property. Once approved, pay the necessary fees and wait for the registry staff assigned the task to do the search for you. A search report will be giving to you after the search. Take the report back to the lawyer to read and give you the necessary advise. Due to the technicalities involved in land deals, it's important to always seek the services of a legal practioner, that is a lawyer, to advise you on whether or not to proceed with the purchase. This aspect of search is called registry search.

There is another type of search type of search called physical search. Physical search occurs when there is no record of the land in the land registry from where status of the land can be ascertained. The seller might be required to exercise some acts on the land to be sold showing he is the owner. He might brush the boundaries of the land, plant survey beacons, cut down economic crops on it such as palm trees etc uninterrupted such acts shall signify that seller indeed is the owner. Physical search may also entail asking questions within the neighborhood.

At this stage this stage also the buyer in the case of unregistered land being resold must insist on being taken to the person he bought the land being sold from. This will strengthen the physical search being made. If after all the above acts the buyer is satisfied with the result he can then proceed to the next stage.

Conclusion of Land Purchase

This is the third stage in land purchase. This stage involves the following:

(a) Preparation of the land document. Land document is prepared by lawyers. Buyer must if he has not done so engage the services of a lawyer to prepare the land document and a date for payment of the balance sum and execution of the document prepared set. It is advisable to pay the balance of the purchase price on the said date and sign the documents simultaneously. The seller and his witnesses must sign the document. All existing documents must be handed over to the buyer at this stage. The buy must also engage the services of a surveyor to produce the survey plan of his land who will in turn make three copies for him. The survey plan must describe sufficiently the land bought, it's location, the new owner's name and address, and size of the land. Without a valid survey plan the land document cannot be resisted at the land office

Fourth and final stage

This stage involves registration of the land document.The law says that every land instrument that transfers interest in land must be registered at the land registry. Once registered the buyer is said to have acquires legal interest, the highest form of interest in land. The holder's interest ranks higher than equitable interest so at law he has priority against other interests. It is the best form of interest. Always endeavor to register your land document to enjoy the highest form of legal protection.
When your lawyer takes your document to the registry the statutory charges payable will be assessed. The document will then be registered upon payment of the charge

Conclusion

The above is a simple discussion on the steps that must be followed if a purchaser of land wishes to buy clean title. It is always good to involve a lawyer in all the stages of the land purchase. You won't regret it if you do.