My note buyer found a legal description problem in documents I wrote myself

I sold a small two bed one bath in a low price market last year for 62k. Buyer put 6k down, I carried 56k at 9% on a 20 year schedule. Payments have been perfect for 13 months, which is the annoying part of this story.

I wanted cash to fund a purchase, so I shopped the note. Two buyers were interested and one got as far as ordering title work. Their title review kicked back because the legal description on the security instrument I recorded did not match the description on the deed. I had copied the short abbreviated description off the county tax bill instead of pulling it from the recorded deed. It got recorded anyway, which I took at the time as a sign it was fine. It was not fine, and whether that kind of mismatch can be corrected by a simple re-recording or needs something more depends on your state's rules, so I had to hire an attorney to find out for mine.

Cost so far. 1,400 to the attorney to prepare a corrective instrument, and my borrower had to sign it. He read the situation correctly and asked what was in it for him. We ended up at 8.25% instead of 9% to get his signature, which is about 33 a month and roughly 4,700 of interest over the remaining schedule if he goes the distance. Four months of calendar time, and both original buyers had moved on by the time it cleared.

What I would do differently. Pay an attorney in my state to draft the note and security instrument at the start. I saved maybe 1,200 by using a template and it cost me the rate on the whole note plus the deal I was trying to fund.