Real Estate Blog

Agents are on the Hook!

Today’s real estate market is certainly a seller’s market however, well before a seller can place the “FOR SALE” sign in the front yard, a seller has an obligation to fill out disclosure forms, intended to inform potential buyers of material property defects. If sellers fail to disclose known material defects, there can be…

Post-Closing Occupancy Agreements Part II

Enforcement of Seller’s and Buyer’s Post-Closing Nuptials Often, a title company may provide a basic fill-in-the-blank form for a post-occupancy agreement. Sometimes, the parties write it themselves, and other times a Google search seals the deal. On the odd occasion, a buyer will close and verbally agree to allow the seller to stay on…

The Big Kickback?!

Over the past several months the Firm has received several inquiries from concerned Agents and Brokers questioning the legality of proposals they have received to join an affiliated business/joint venture arrangement for the purpose of referring settlement services to their customers. We are not at all surprised by this as we often see new…

What Is An Estoppel?!

From the very beginning of any residential real estate transaction, Buyers and Sellers are faced with many different decisions, obligations, and the juggling of various other moving parts; from deciding what terms of the contract will be acceptable, to obtaining financing, and everything else that goes into preparing for the big day — closing…

Where Do We Go From Here?

Real Estate agents have the unfortunate (and hopefully infrequent!) experience of dealing with broken sales contracts and considering the rights and remedies of buyers and sellers when a contract is breached. Less frequently, agents have to deal with a listing agreement being breached by a seller, and their remedies under that agreement. The form…

Outstanding Utility Bills: Prevent a Shock at Closing!

As a real estate professional, you already know why it is so important to order a municipal lien search. Municipal lien searches reveal title issues such as open permits, code enforcement violations, or unpaid utility bills, which can derail a smooth closing. But what happens when that municipal lien search actually does turn up…

“I Walk the Line – Dealing with Boundary Disputes.

So you just purchased a vacant lot and you build your dream home with the beautiful, white vinyl privacy fence. You have a survey done and build your home-based upon that survey, leaving ample room to add a pool in the back yard or maybe a patio with a Jacuzzi. Or so you thought…

Buyer Protection? What about the Automatic Extension!?

Picture this, it’s the day before closing and all parties are anxiously awaiting the culmination of the transaction. Unfortunately, the lender has reached out to the closing agent that more time is needed. Have no fear, the “automatic ten (10) day extension” is here (to coin a phrase). No extension addendum is needed, right?…

Acceptance Date & Effective Date

(They are not the Same) While seasoned agents and real estate professionals might find the distinction between the “Acceptance Date” of a contract, and the “Effective Date” of a contract, to be clear and obvious, for those agents and real estate professionals new to the industry, the terms may “appear” to be the same,…

Do I Get the Keys Now?!?

As real estate attorneys, we get a lot of questions at the closing table. One of the most prevalent questions, and perhaps the most important, seems to be “Are we officially closed now?!?”. What we would love to say every time is “Yes, congratulations!!”. Unfortunately, there are times we have to be the bearers…

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