Is A Land Contract Still A Viable Means To Purchase A Home?

 

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Is a land contract still a viable means of purchasing a home?  The answer to the question is, is that Florida does not have land contracts.

 

I know Michigan has land contracts and any number of other states.  And the reason why many people use land contracts is that they’re in a state that has a non-judicial foreclosure statute which allows them to foreclosure, or get the property back through non-judicial procedures.  Florida is a judicial procedure state which requires you to go through a court proceeding to foreclose and take back property.  And so a land contract, the closest thing we have to it in Florida is called an agreement for deed.  An agreement for deed is the same as – has to be enforced the same as a note and mortgage and therefore you don’t see too many agreements for deed, because although the seller retains the title to the property and puts you in possession, if the buyer defaults they still have to go through a foreclosure process and so it defeats the purpose of using a land contract.

 

The other way of avoiding going through a foreclosure process if you’re the seller, and the buyer has a very small down payment, is to go with a lease with an option to purchase.  And that way if the buyer defaults in the payment, you’re then in a position to evict them rather than going through a foreclosure process, which is much quicker and less expensive than a foreclosure process.  It’ll probably take six, nine months to a year to foreclose a piece of property and costs and anywhere from $4,000.00 to $5,000.00.  Whereas with an eviction process you’re looking at probably 30 to 45 days and approximately $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 for an eviction process.  So if you talk land contracts in Florida, they’re gonna look at you with a blank stare, because it’s something that comes out of the Midwest or a state that has non-judicial foreclosures, and they are so you don’t have those in Florida.

 

If you have any questions about land contracts or buying and selling real property with owner financing, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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Ask Jaleh: Reasons For Medicaid Planning.

 

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Reasons for Medicaid planning.  Medicare or long-term care insurance benefits may be unavailable or insufficient to cover the costs of nursing home institutionalization.

While Medicare and HMOs may pay part of the nursing home care for the first 100 days, they will only pay for quote unquote skilled care, and a three-day hospitalization requirement must be fulfilled before any days of care and coverage will be allowed.  The first 20 days full expenses will be paid by Medicare or Medicaid.  And for the next 80 days the patient must pay a sizeable per day coinsurance amount.

 

Nursing homes in metropolitan areas of Florida normally charge $250.00 per day or more simply for room and board.  Thus, the Medicare and HMO coverage will not pay the entire bill.  Further, because of the narrow definition of skilled care, the national and Florida average for Medicare and HMO coverage is 10 to 20 days and not the full 100 days allotted.  Long-term care calls for long-term money management to provide essential health and quality of life services and wears over and above that furnished by the Medicaid benefits.  The burden of costs of catastrophic medical care is especially poignant in cases of married couples.  Community spouses who do not plan ahead, often live in poverty to keep an ill spouse in a nursing home.

 

If you have any questions regarding skilled nursing care and/or Medicaid planning, please give us a call here at Waller and Mitchell at 727-847-2288.

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Can a Contractor Place a Lien on My Home if I Did Not Sign a Contract?

 

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Can a contractor place a lien on my home if I did not sign a contract?  The answer is yes.  Under the Construction Lien Statute, someone who improves real property can place a lien on your property if they are not paid.  That is all under the Construction Lien Statute.  They do not have to give you a notice to owner.  The question then becomes, whenever they try and enforce the lien, as to the amount that they lien the property.  If they do not have a contract, and you do not have an agreed-on price, they have to prove the value of the services they put on your property if they try and foreclose the lien.  So, in answer to your question, yes they can lien your property.

 

 

So if you have any problems with a contractor liening your property, or have any questions about the Construction Lien Statute in Florida, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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Is a Home Warranty Worth the Price When Purchasing a Home?

 

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Is a home warranty worth the price when purchasing a home?  Well, that is a real great question, and I do not think I have a good answer for it.  I guess if any of the appliances go out, the answer is yes.  If none of the appliances go out, well, the answer is no.

 

So that is the nature of the beast whenever you are talking about insurance.  Any time that you get insurance, well, if you do not have a casualty loss, you have paid the premium and therefore it was not a good deal.  However, you are getting the home warranty or buying the home warranty to have peace of mind so you do not have an unexpected expense.

 

If you want to further analyze the situation, look at how old the appliances are.  And if they are relatively old, there is a higher possibility of them breaking down, well then you can go ahead and buy a warranty so you are not surprised later on.  I suggest that you really understand the warranty so you know how much it is going to pay, whether you have to pay a service call or any of the deductibles, and whether there is a maximum they have to pay, let’s say, for an air conditioning system.

 

Also look at the value of what you are trying to insure against.  As far as an air conditioning system, you are looking at thousands of dollars.  If you are looking at a refrigerator, well, that could be depending on the refrigerator – could also be in the thousands.  And then look at how long the warranty runs for.  Because if you are paying $500.00 to insure a $1,000.00 refrigerator or a couple of thousand dollars worth of appliances, well that is a pretty steep premium to be paying for that.

 

So hopefully I have answered your question, and I do not think there is a cut-and-dry answer.  You need to look at the circumstances, and what your tolerances are as far as whether or not you could stand the surprise or have the money to pay for it.  You might also ask that the seller provide you with the home warranty whenever you purchase the home and negotiate that into the contract.

 

If you have any more questions about it, please give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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Can a Home Equity Loan Be Used to Purchase Investment Property?

 

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Can a home equity loan be used to purchase investment property?  The answer is yes.  You can use the proceeds from a home equity line of credit to purchase investment property.

 

Once you obtain this line of credit on your home, the bank does not monitor what you use the money for.  You can use it for entertainment, to pay off credit cards; you can use it for anything you like.  The downside of it is, you put a mortgage against your home.  So if you do not repay it, your home is at risk.

 

So yes, you can use the proceeds from your home equity line of credit to buy investment property, or for that matter, to take your bride out to dinner.

 

If you have any questions about a home equity line of credit, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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