Real Estate Blog
DON’T BE CAUGHT WITH YOUR PANTS DOWN
Have you ever represented a Buyer that literally waits to the last second to inform you, via email, that they want to terminate a contract? As a Realtor, what are your obligations? Generally speaking your obligation (as Selling Agent) is to deliver the written notice of termination (or signed Release and Termination) to the Listing…
Helpful Closing Tips for Commercial Real Estate Sellers
Here are some tips to ensure that your commercial real estate closing is a smooth one. Commercial real estate closings are often much more complicated than your regular residential closing, there are usually multiple business entities, often with layers, leased property where there is a tenant or tenants in the property, elaborate surveys, environmental due…
FR/BAR “AS IS” Contract – To Accept, or Not to Accept, That is the Question
The “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale (the “Contract“) is a popular real estate contract that limits the seller’s repair obligations and incorporates the seller’s material defect disclosure requirements set for in the landmark Florida Supreme Court case of Johnson v. Davis, and due to the Contract’s popularity, this week’s blog topic discussion is whether…
The Real Estate Tax Deduction: The Break You’ve Been Waiting For!
Tax season has you feeling like you need a break? Well, if you are a real estate professional, then you’ve got it! Compliments of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of December 2017, many real estate professionals may receive a tax break on their taxes, and may deduct 20% of their pass-through business’s net income…
Whose Deposit is it Anyway?
As real estate attorneys, we often play many roles in addition to our role as attorneys, including the roles of title insurance agent, closing agent, escrow agent, and sometimes, during especially stressful transactions, therapists! One role we will not play is the role of a judge. This is especially true when the parties notify us…
An Ounce of Prevention…
So, we get this call at least once every couple of months: “Hi, I bought a property at a court sale, and I was just named as a Defendant in a foreclosure lawsuit. Can you fix that for me?” Nine times out of ten, we know exactly what happened without asking the caller any further…
In an Escalating Market, What you Need to Know about Escalation Clauses
Season is upon us and the local real estate market is heating up! As with any hot real estate market, it is not at all uncommon for Sellers to receive multiple offers on their property. For obvious reasons, multiple offer situations can be exhilarating for Sellers and infuriating for Buyers. How many times have you…
Overlap between Real Estate and Estate Planning (other than the word “Estate”)
Anyone involved in real estate needs to be aware of estate planning issues that will likely apply to their real estate ownership and transactions. As you can see from the following list, there is a lot of crossover between estate planning and real estate, along with tax issues, and asset protection, among others. We have…
One Size Does Not Fit All
Our market is rather fortunate to have two fairly standard contracts for the purchase and sale of residential real estate, each of which, generally speaking, treat buyers and sellers rather fairly. It is for that reason that most attorneys are fine with the standard contracts as drafted, although a few attorneys will tweak certain provisions…
Don’t Forget Those Addenda!
When drawing up a real estate contract, there are many times when items outside of the four corners of the FAR/BAR need to be dealt with. While the contract does have the Additional Terms section (paragraph 20) for those matters, it is important not to forget about the standard FAR/BAR addenda. These addenda are designed…
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