Should You Purchase Insurance on Vacant Land?
Video Summary
Should you purchase insurance on vacant land? And to the question is you should buy liability insurance for vacant land. Just to give you peace of mind that if someone would attempt to Sue you for any injury that they suffered on your land, that you would have coverage. It should be very inexpensive to obtain. You may even be able to get it included on your homeowners insurance as far as vacant property. So I suggest you talk to your insurance agent before you are liable for injury for people on your land. They have to show that you were somehow negligent as far as maintaining the property and particularly if they’re trespassing or whatever, or there’s an attractive nuisance as far as children’s concerns such as a water body, things such as that. Also if there is anything that’s dangerous about the property, chemicals or anything such as that, then you may have some liability as far as that’s concerned and not safeguarding it. They give you peace of mind, I suggest that you go ahead and obtain liability insurance, which should be at a very modest cost. So if you have any questions about your vacant property, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Can Real Estate Titles be in a Child’s Name?
Video Summary
Can real estate be title in the child’s name? Yes. That is a question I get asked often is that while I want to transfer this, uh, this property so that my grandchildren or my child is the owner of it, and it’s usually for estate planning purposes. I caution whoever wants to do that, that once you titled it in the child’s name, then if the property, if you want to sell the property, then you may be put in a position to have the child have to set up a guardianship. If the net proceeds will be more than $15,000. And then your guardianship is expensive and cumbersome and you won’t have access to the money if you do put a child’s name. So if you put it in the child’s name and you don’t sell the property until after the child reaches age 18, it’s not a problem. And then the child can sign. If the proceeds are less than $15,000, then the natural guardians can sign for the child. However, the money is supposed to be held for the child until they reach age 18. So the answer is yes. However, I caution you not to do it. Give me a call if you have any questions. My phone number is (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
Can I Homestead Property if I Live on the Property For 6 Months of the Year?
Video Summary
Can I homestead property if I live on the property for six months out of the year? The answer to the question is not how long you reside there is whether or not you’re a resident of state of Florida and that is your permanent residence. It doesn’t matter how long you reside there, it only matters if it’s your permanent residence when they’d be assigned for homestead exemption. You state that you are not receiving any benefits as a result of being a resident of any other state and therefore you are a permanent resident of Florida. Many times people may own a home here in Florida and they decide to get in their motor home and the drive all over the United States, so they’re not here but for a few months and not very long at all. However, that’s still their homestead property and that they are not getting any benefits from any other state and they’re permanent resident of the state of Florida and that’s their home address. One thing that I need to caution you on is if you are married, you cannot have one spouse have a homestead in one state. And you have homestead and the state of Florida that will not work and you are not entitled to homestead and could be fined if you do obtain a homestead. And the property appraiser finds out about it. If you have any questions, will give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos
Can Real Estate Be Sold Without a Seller’s Disclosure?
Video Summary
Can real estate be sold without a seller’s disclosure? Yes, it can be. So the law is as far as residential real estate is concerned, the seller must disclose to the buyer any matters that may materially affect the value of the property that are not readily observable. That does not require the disclosure form that the realtors use. Although that is certainly a good way to make the full disclosure of the property. It applies only to residential real estate and does not apply to commercial real estate. Although a contract, if the wrong contract is used on a commercial real estate transaction, it may require this disclosure. Just because you put as is in the contract does not relieve a seller from this closing any matters that may material, they affect the value of their property, which are commonly known as latent defects. Some of the big concerns are as whether or not the property has ever had a sinkhole, as a repaired sinkhole house or a claim has been filed. All of these matters must be disclosed. There’s any number of other matters, such as leaky roofs and the things such as that, that should be disclosed to a buyer. The seller disclosure form is not required, but the disclosure is required. If you have any questions, give me a call (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate – Selling, Videos
Can I Homestead Property in Two Different States?
Video Summary
Can I homestead property and two different States? The answer is no for Florida. And that whenever you sign for homestead exempt you’re signing that you are a permanent resident of the state of Florida. And furthermore, that you’re not receiving any benefits as a result of being a resident of any other state. It also, applies to if you’re married, that neither you nor your spouse are receiving those benefits. They consider a husband and wife as one family unit so that one spouse can’t get homestead in one state and the other spouse get homestead in Florida. Sometimes people query as to, well, how do they find out? Well, I don’t know, but I know the property appraiser as hard at it. They’ve found where this one fellow was getting free parking in his town, as a result of being a resident of that town in Massachusetts. How they found out, I don’t know, but they have people working on that to avoid homestead fraud. The penalties for getting homestead and having benefits elsewhere are very severe. I think the interest rates like 15%. The penalties besides the tax that you should have paid is like 50%, it’s sort of like speeding. You don’t want to get caught. So, I suggest don’t do it. When you make application, you state that you’re not getting any benefits from another state. If you have any questions, give me a call (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos