Video Summary

Do property repairs have to be completed by the seller before closing?  Usually these repairs arise as a result of an inspection by the buyer or they may possibly be as a result of a final walkthrough whenever there has been some kind of loss or something discovered about the property and the sellers agreed to make these repairs.  Ideally it would be great to have the repairs done prior to closing; however, there is some urgency so the repairs many times are not done before closing and how you handle that is you simply escrow the money or give the buyer an allowance for these repairs so that the closing can go through.  The buyer can take care of doing the repairs themselves and the seller is relieved of any kind of responsibility.

So if you have any problems with real estate transaction, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Why do I need title insurance?  Well, primarily the title insurance covers you so if there is any title defects in the property that they will pay for it.

Say, 50 years ago how you made sure that you had clear title or marketable title to the property is you relied upon an abstract to the property and then an attorney would give you a written opinion as to whether or not the title was clear after examining an abstract.

That time has long since passed because let’s say the lawyer missed something.  Well, then you would have to sue the lawyer because he did not find it or made a mistake.  And if the lawyer (A) didn’t have any money or (2) was dead or not available or moved away, well, you were stuck.

So they have come in with title insurance so now you have an insurance company to look at your title and guarantee that you have marketable title that covers any things that are missed in the search as well as things such as forgeries or things that do not appear in the public records.

But the biggest thing that title insurance does is you are assured that someone has examined the title and done a title search to see if there is anything there so it’s more of a preventative matter rather than a remedial matter.  And, therefore, it’s a small percentage of what the purchase price is.  It certainly does not cost like homeowner’s insurance.

But also, title insurance you need to hang onto it even after you sell the property because later on if there is a title defect and someone wants to sue you on the warranties that you have given under a Warranty Deed, you can then call on your title company to defend you because they insured that you had marketable title.

So the primary reason for a title policy is that you know someone has examined the title and that you are getting the property free of any liens and that it’s only subject to various easements of the Condominium’s or Homeowner’s Association which also you can ask for copies of those.  So it is informative, preventative and also gives you assurances or insurance against any defects that were missed.

So I would strongly recommend title insurance and usually the seller pays for that in the Tampa Bay area.  And in the Miami, Broward and Palm Beach area I believe that the buyer buys his own title insurance instead of the seller.

So if you have any questions about title insurance give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Can you terminate a home purchase agreement if you are not satisfied with the home inspection report?  The answer to the question lies in the contract.

Most contracts for residential property have an inspection paragraph that gives you so many days in which to inspect the property.  These are called “As Is Contracts.”  So it says that you have 10 or 15 days to inspect the property and if you are not satisfied you merely need to give notice within that time period to terminate the contract and then you should receive your deposit back.

If your contract does not have an inspection period and you find a defect in the property that is not readily observable, you would have a right to terminate the contract for a latent defect that was not disclosed.   You cannot terminate a contract if you go past the inspection time period set forth.

So you need to read your contract and see what it has to say and it will probably provide for an inspection period and you would be able to terminate.

So if you have any questions about your contract, so give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Is a seller required to disclose if there has been a death in the home?  This goes back to the case law that is probably 20 or 25 years ago, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled in the case of Johnson vs Davis that said the seller in the sale of residential real property that they must disclose any matters that may materially affect the value of the property and which are not readily apparent. 

That usually involves a roof repair or some physical aspect of the house that is not readily apparent such as, if you have a sinkhole and you patch the sinkhole and did not repair it or other matters that would physically affect the house that you would have to repair at a later date. 

The law has since recognized some other aspects that are more intangible and so I do not believe that simply someone passing away in the home would be something that you would have to disclose because people die at home all the time.  The question if you take it one step further, let’s say there was a homicide or even a suicide, then that creates another issue and I do not know that it is clear cut or I have not seen a case on that where a buyer has sued to say that they wanted to resend the transaction because it was not disclosed to them that there was a homicide committed in the home. 

So my reaction or my opinion, not that there is any court opinion to justify this, is that you do not have to make that disclosure and in fact I have not seen that disclosure that the realtors customarily have a seller fill out for a buyer.  In our area there is, in Tarpon Springs, a super fun toxic waste area that has been taken over and there was some question as to whether or not if you are selling property that is close to that that you would have to disclose that. 

So these are all questions that I guess would be better if you did disclose it so that you do not have to worry about the buyer ever coming back against you because it was not disclosed but I do not know that that is encompassed in the disclosure requirements or whether that really materially affects the value of the property.

So hopefully I have shed some light on the issue.  If you would like to have me assist you in the sale of your home and the disclosures, well give me a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

Should a purchaser of a home include a mold and radon inspection in their contract?  The answer is is most contracts in Florida, particularly the ones that are drafted on a Florida far-bar contract provide for radon disclosure and there could be a mold addendum attached to the contract.  And the purchaser routinely has an inspection period.  So if you’re concerned about mold or radon, well then you simply need to employ your home inspector to inspect the air quality of the home during your inspection period, which sometimes are as short as 10 days or 15 days.

So you need to think about that before you sign the contract, get in touch with an inspector who does do air quality testing.  And that way if you find that there is problems with the air quality you can then make the decision as to whether or not you want to proceed with the sale, the purchase, or terminate the contract and or see how much it would cost to remediate any kind of air quality problems and reduce it to a financial or a numerical number.  So if it’s you’re buying a $300,000.00 home, it’s going to cost you $400.00 or $500.00 to take care remediating the problem, well that’s not the end of the world and you can probably negotiate that out with the seller of the property.

So also as far as radon is concerned, I haven’t seen a lot of radon in the west Florida area in and around the Tampa Bay area but if that is a concern then you could, I suggest you do have a radon test done.  They do have these little kits but I’m not sure how accurate they are and I’m not even, I don’t even know anyone that tests for radon.  I think they come in with Geiger counters and you’re supposed to close the property up for a certain number of days.  But any tests that you have if you’re concerned about air quality or any problems with a home, well you need to make arrangements for the testing before you sign the contract so you can get it done within the inspection period so that you can get out of the contract if you need be or negotiate it.

So if you have any questions about purchasing a home and need any guidance, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.