Selling a house in New Hampshire: the paperwork

Every document a New Hampshire sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows which part that usually is.

Opens your own AI in a new tab, in your own account. It asks only the facts that change the answer, then sorts it into three short lists. Keighbor cannot see the conversation.

12 documents · 10 questions · about a 9 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

4documents are usually yours to produce

out of 12 a New Hampshire sale commonly touches

Narrow this to your own sale.

10 quick questions about the home, the title and its history. Every answer takes something off the list or explains why it stays on. Nothing is saved, and you can stop anywhere.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

RSA 477:4-a notification (radon/arsenic/lead/PFAS/flood)On your list if the home is on the water or in a flood zone, or if there's been mold, structural repair or environmental testing.
RSA 477:4-d disclosure (water/sewage/insulation)
Federal lead-paint disclosure (pre-1978)
Non-titled spouse signature to release homestead (RSA 480:5-a)On your list if you're married.

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

Deed (statutory warranty, RSA 477:27) + spousal homestead joinderOn your list if you're married.
Current-use change-tax filing

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Real estate transfer tax (CD-57-S seller / CD-57-P buyer; PA-34 inventory)On your list if you inherited the home, or it's in probate.
Title exam & title insurance
Recording of deed
Payoff statements
HOA/condo docs (RSA 356-B:58)On your list if the home is in an HOA, a condo or a co-op.
Purchase & sale agreement

The same paperwork, in a Room.

Every one of these filed under whoever sent it, with every version kept, beside the dates and people of your own New Hampshire sale.

Your New Hampshire paperwork, in a Room

RSA 477:4-a notification (radon/arsenic/lead/PFAS/flood)Usually yours
RSA 477:4-d disclosure (water/sewage/insulation)Usually yours
Federal lead-paint disclosure (pre-1978)Usually yours
Non-titled spouse signature to release homestead (RSA 480:5-a)Usually yours

A Room files each one under whoever sent it, and keeps every version. The 4 marked "usually yours" are the ones you can fill in on screen.

The rest of what New Hampshire asks.

How a sale generally runs there, what catches people out, and the whole of the research with its citations kept.

How New Hampshire generally runs a sale.

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

Closing structure — TITLE/ATTORNEY HYBRID: No attorney mandate; title companies commonly close, attorneys frequently participate. The homestead-joinder rule below affects deed execution regardless.
Marital property: NOT community property. Dower/curtesy abolished. Surviving spouse rights (RSA 560:10 et seq.). Operative marital constraint on conveyance is the homestead statute.
Homestead — MAJOR 2026 CHANGE + CONVEYANCE RESTRICTION: RSA 480:1, as amended by 2025 N.H. Laws ch. 282 (HB 617), signed August 1, 2025 (Gov. Kelly Ayotte), effective January 1, 2026, entitles every person to $400,000 homestead (up from $120,000)...
CRITICAL — HOMESTEAD SPOUSAL-JOINDER TRAP: CORRECTION: joinder statute is RSA 480:5-a (NOT 480:3-a; the latter governs DURATION). RSA 480:5-a: "no deed shall convey or encumber the homestead right, except a mortgage made at the time...
Standard deed: Warranty deed; statutory short form authorized by RSA 477:27 ("with warranty covenants"), importing statutory covenants: (1) lawful seisin at delivery, (2) freedom from encumbrances except s...
Disclosure regime — NO GENERAL STATUTORY CONDITION-DISCLOSURE FORM, but targeted mandatory notifications: Contrast CT/RI. NH requires:
RSA 477:4-a — Notification Required; Radon, Arsenic, Lead Paint (and effective January 1, 2025, PFAS and Flood): Prior to purchase-and-sale contract execution, seller/agent must provide statutory notification on radon (air/water), arsenic in well water, lead paint, PFAS, and flood;
RSA 477:4-d — Notification/Disclosure: for 1–4 family dwellings: written information on private water supply (type, location, date of most recent test, known problems), private sewage, insulation; buyer acknowledges.
RSA 477:4-c: — additional info requirements (unknown items stated in writing).
RSA 477:4-f: — condominium sale notice re: RSA 356-B:58 information rights.
Agent duty: (RSA 331-A:25-b) — licensees disclose material physical/regulatory/mechanical/on-site environmental conditions of actual knowledge.
Lead-paint state overlay: — RSA 130-A.
Asbestos disposal site: — RSA 141-E:23.
Transfer tax — RSA 78-B (highest state transfer tax in the country): $0.75 per $100 (0.75%) imposed on EACH of buyer and seller — $7.50/$1,000 each, $15/$1,000 combined (1.5% total). NO county or municipal transfer tax on top.
RON status: CORRECTION: NH authorized electronic AND remote notarization effective February 6, 2022, under updated Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RSA 456-B), with remote acts under RSA 456-B:6-a.
Recording act — NOTICE: RSA 477:3-a: instruments recorded at the county registry; not effective as against BFPs for value until recorded.
Recording office — COUNTY REGISTRY OF DEEDS: CORRECTION TO COMMON NEW ENGLAND ASSUMPTION: unlike CT and RI (and MA/VT), NH records at COUNTY REGISTRIES.
Local overlays: LCHIP surcharge and per-document surcharge at recording; current-use land-change tax (RSA 79-A); shoreland/wetlands (NHDES); well/septic testing in the arsenic belt (southeastern NH).

Other things New Hampshire asks about.

These come up in New Hampshire and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

NH-5. Pre-1978 construction (RSA 130-A lead + federal Title X)?
NH-7. Asbestos disposal site (RSA 141-E:23)?
NH-8. County of the registry of deeds?
NH-9. Current-use classified land (RSA 79-A change tax)?

Before you rely on any of this.

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The whole New Hampshire reference.

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

ALWAYS-Required Documents

Deed (statutory warranty, RSA 477:27), executed by owner AND non-titled spouse (if any) per RSA 480:5-a — [SELLER]/[ATTORNEY].
RSA 477:4-a notification delivered pre-contract with buyer signature — [SELLER].
RSA 477:4-d disclosure for 1–4 family — [SELLER].
Real estate transfer tax — CD-57-S (seller), CD-57-P (buyer), PA-34 inventory — [TITLE/ESCROW]/[ATTORNEY].
Federal lead-based paint disclosure (pre-1978) — [SELLER].
Recorded deed at county registry — [COUNTY REGISTRY OF DEEDS].

SOMETIMES-Required Documents (Triggered)

Spousal homestead-release signature — whenever homestead conveyed and non-titled spouse must join (RSA 480:5-a). (Effectively always for married sellers of primary residence.)
Current-use land-use change tax (RSA 79-A) — classified land leaving current use.
Asbestos disposal site disclosure (RSA 141-E:23).
Condominium documents / RSA 356-B:58 notice (RSA 477:4-f).
Well/septic test reports — arsenic-belt/private-system.
Power of attorney.
Estate/trust/fiduciary deeds (Title Standard 5-5).
FIRPTA affidavit — foreign seller.

Prescribed-Language Items (Substance Over Form)

RSA 477:4-a notification (verbatim statutory language). RADON: "Radon, the product of decay of radioactive materials in rock, may be found in some areas of New Hampshire. Radon gas may pass into a structure through the ground or through water from a deep well. Testing of the air by a professional certified in radon testing and testing of the water by an accredited laboratory can establish radon's presence and equipment is available to remove it from the air or water." ARSENIC: "Arsenic is a common groundwater contaminant in New Hampshire that occurs at unhealthy levels in well water in many areas of the state…." (Plus lead-paint, PFAS, and flood paragraphs; buyer signs to acknowledge.)
Statutory warranty deed operative words (RSA 477:27). "With warranty covenants" imports statutory covenants; "grant" is operative (RSA 477:24) conveying fee simple without technical words of inheritance.
RSA 456-B:8 short-form acknowledgment — "This instrument was acknowledged before me on (date) by (name(s))…."
Federal lead warning statement (40 C.F.R. Part 745).
Homestead-release note. No separate express release required if both spouses sign with formalities (Title Standard 5-4); marital/civil-union status of all grantors recited (Title Standard 5-7).

Local / Municipal Overlays

County registry recording (10 counties) with LCHIP surcharge and per-document surcharge (e.g., Strafford: $25 LCHIP + $2 document surcharge).
Current-use change tax (RSA 79-A) — town assessing officials.
Shoreland Water Quality Protection / wetlands (NHDES).
Arsenic-belt well-testing practice — southeastern NH (NHDES recommends arsenic, bacteria, nitrate, radon, uranium).
Local building/septic permit records.

Post-Closing Obligations

Recording at county registry (RSA 477:3-a).
Transfer tax documentation — CD-57-S/CD-57-P and PA-34; tax paid at recording.
Payoff/discharge of prior mortgages.
Current-use change tax filing if triggered.
1099-S reporting.
Retention of signed RSA 477:4-a/477:4-d notifications.

Federal Overlays (Cross-Reference)

FinCEN RRE Rule — effective March 1, 2026; VACATED March 19, 2026 (Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, E.D. Tex.); FinCEN appealed May 11, 2026; circuit split with Fidelity National Financial, Inc. v. Bessent (M.D. Fla.). TREAT AS SUSPENDED.
Federal lead-based paint disclosure (Title X); layered with RSA 130-A.
FIRPTA (26 U.S.C. § 1445).
1099-S reporting.

About this page.

Was this page helpful?

Is something here wrong for New Hampshire?

Rules and forms change, and New Hampshire does not tell us when they do. If a line here looks off, or a form has been replaced, send it over. A person reads it, checks the source, and either fixes the page or writes back saying why it stands.

Turn this list into your own New Hampshire sale.

Your Room keeps each document you gather, who is waiting on it, and the date it is due, with the rest of the sale around it.

Organize my sale

Free to set up. Pay once when you list: $89 or $189. 7-day refund.

Next, tell us your name, address, and where you are in the sale. It takes about two minutes and does not list your home or contact anyone.

Paperwork in another state