Video Summary

A lease is a landlord-tenant relationship wherein the tenant takes occupancy of the property and agrees to pay a designated monthly amount for a set period of time. In the case of a lease with option purchase, the seller agrees to sell the property to the buyer for a fixed purchase price during the term of the lease. Generally, a certain amount of the monthly rental payments can be applied toward the purchase price. The “option” refers to the buyer’s right to choose whether to purchase the property.

The advantage of a lease with option to purchase is that if the tenant fails to make payments, the buyer may pursue the eviction process rather than the foreclosure process, which takes much less time. In the case of owner financing, a lease with option to purchase is advisable if the buyer does not have a substantial amount of money for a down payment.

If you’re interested in arranging for owner financing as the buyer or seller of a property, please give us a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

An agreement for deed is a form of owner financing wherein the seller retains the title to the property and allows the buyer to take possession of the property. The seller provides equitable title, which means that the buyer has all the legal rights to the property except for legal title, which is held by the seller for the purposes of securing payment. However, Florida law treats an agreement for deed the same as a Note in Mortgage. Our law office generally does not use agreements for deed because there is no particular advantage over a Note in Mortgage.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a house, agreements for deed, notes in mortgage, or other related matters, please give us a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

I’m often asked to prepare contracts that say a property is in “as-is” condition. The seller wants to be sure that the buyer cannot come back later and say that there is a problem with the property and sue them for any deficiencies in the property so they want to make it “as-is” so that whatever the buyer sees when he purchases the property is what he gets and the buyer does not have recourse to sue the seller later on if there are any problems with the property. A contract will provide for an inspection period to give the buyer a time period in which to inspect the property, after which time they either accept the property or withdraw from the contract. However, a seller does have the obligation under Florida law to disclose to a buyer any matters that may materially affect the value of the property and are not readily observable. This would include anything you wouldn’t normally see just by walking through the property, such as roof repairs, previous fire or sinkhole damage, etc. With an as-is contract, the seller still has an obligation to disclose to the buyer any matters that may materially affect the property and is not insulated from liability if they fail to do so.

If you have a question about a contract or would like me to represent you, please call us at (727) 847-2288. Thank you.

Video Summary

Buyers and sellers wonder about the phrase, “Buyers Beware!” About 20 years ago, the Florida Supreme Court handed down a ruling regarding the sale of residential real estate that changed that rule of thumb. In the case of Johnson v. Davis, the Supreme Court ruled that a seller is obligated to disclose to the seller any problems with the real estate that may affect the material value of the property. These flaws which are not readily observable are referred to as latent defects. Realtors generally ask the seller to complete a disclosure sheet to provide such information about a house. Standard language in a real estate contract includes a guarantee that the seller has disclosed any latent defects. As a result, the buyer has recourse in the case of undisclosed defects and can choose to invalidate the contract or to sue the seller for fraud. However, a buyer’s best protection against latent defects in a property is still to have his own inspections and make as thorough an examination of the property as possible before making a purchase.

Video Summary

The responsibility of who pays which closing costs in a real estate transaction is controlled by the provisions in the real estate contract.

Closing costs include documentary stamps ($7/$1,000) and title insurance (roughly $6/$1,000). In the Tampa Bay are, it is customary for the contract to stipulate that the seller pays these costs. In addition, recording costs of $10.50 for the first page and $8.00 per additional page are generally paid by the buyer. Any attorney’s fees will be paid by whichever party hires an attorney. In some transactions, the buyer and seller agree to split the attorney fees.

A contract can be written to stipulate that either party is responsible for all or part of any closing costs involved in the transaction, but the above guidelines provide a general overview of the standard way costs are handled in our area.

If you would like to have a real estate contract prepared, either as a buyer or a seller, call us at (727) 847-2288.