Video Summary

Why do I need to hire a lawyer to prepare my real estate contract?  The answer to that is all the written information that’s in a standard contract you need to understand and also what your liabilities are, as far as contracts are concerned. Whether it is commercial real estate or whether it is residential real estate.  Also, in the event that you are doing owner financing, I believe that you would want to have an attorney prepare the note and mortgage and that there is a lot involved as far as owner financing.

Also there is various clauses in the contract that you have a right to make an election of and that has to do with paying of assessments.  If you use a standard contract you need to discuss that and have a meeting of the mind so both the buyer and seller understand the transaction and the real estate deal, the contract really, everybody understands the deal or the agreement that they made and the contract represents the understanding of the parties.  And another big issue is who is paying the closing costs, what are the closing costs, whether or not we have title insurance, whether or not the buyer wishes to have a survey.  If it is residential property, have the property inspected even it is an as-is contract, the seller is responsible for disclosing to the buyer any matters that may materially affect the value of the property but are not readily observable.

So there is any number of responsibilities of both the buyer and the seller as far as preparing the contract and basically it is a roadmap to the closing and if you have a lawyer prepare it, he can explain to you the provisions of the contract and protect you whether you being the buyer or the seller.

So, if you are selling your property or buying real property and would like to have your contract reviewed or a contract prepared, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

If you buy an existing mortgage from an investor, would the mortgage fall under the Dodd Frank Act or The Safe Act?  Well, first you need to determine whether or not it is an exempt transaction from Dodd Frank and under The Safe Act.  But you have to look at the loan at the time of its inception and do not believe that you would be able to say, “Well I purchased it from an investor and therefore Dodd Frank or The Safe Act does not apply.”  So it is my opinion, that you have to look at the loan at its inception to determine whether or not it is governed by Dodd Frank or The Safe Act and if it is, you are also going to be subject to all the defenses of the borrower and that that’s the purpose of these acts is to protect a person who is buying the home and you will not be insulated as a result of buying these loans from an investor.

If you have any other questions, I will try and answer those as far as Dodd Frank since it’s relatively new and there is a thousand-page act and I have not read the whole act, but basically talk about what loans are exempt from Dodd Frank.

Give me a call if you have any questions at 727-847-2288. Thank you.

Video Summary

Can a bank refuse to lend money if the home has radon?  The answer to the question is yes.  What they will usually do anytime there is a problem with the property itself; they will require the problem to be fixed, such as, if there is a roof that does not have a useful life.  In order for them to give a loan, they may require that the roof be replaced in order to give the loan.  That would be the same case as far as radon, in that they do not want to lend money if their collateral, which would be the home, would be impaired by any sort of defect, whether it be radon, whether it be a sinkhole, structural problems or not complying with the building code.

So the banks would not lend money because a house with radon is certainly not worth as much as one without radon and so it impacts the value of the home.  I might add that in the Pasco County, New Port Richey area of Florida, I have not encountered any properties with radon.  So we do have a radon disclosure, however I haven’t encountered that.  So I can only speak in generalized terms as far as what lenders would do but I can’t imagine a bank lending money if they are aware that there is radon on the property.

This is Roland Waller. Give me a call at 727-847-2288 if you have any other questions about buying or selling real estate.

Video Summary

Can a seller avoid paying closing costs by having the buyer pay them cash on the side outside of closing?  It’s sort of like avoiding paying – evading taxes by not reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service and that could be considered a crime to do that.  Likewise, you are defrauding the Department of Revenue in that you are obligated to pay the documentary stamps on the sales price.  And you are not to avoid those, because you are really evading those if you have a transaction on the side wherein the buyer pays the sellers the cash and is not reporting with the closing agent.

There’s also any number of other problems with that, such as the currency transaction if you are actually dealing in cash, and that anything $10,000.00 or more you have to fill out various currency forms with the bank if it has to be deposited.

So the answer to your question is you are committing a crime or a fraud against the state of Florida by doing that, and you need not contact my office to handle such a transaction because I am not going to be part and parcel of it.  I would also caution you to do that because if there is ever a problem later on about the transaction, trying to show that cash or the actual sales price, you are not going to be very successful whenever you have been involved in this transaction, particularly whenever the buyer then turns around, and he sells it and wants to take credit for the cash that he paid.  Do you really think that he’s going to be looking out for the seller?  So it’s just a very bad idea, and I can’t say enough bad things about it and would encourage you don’t engage in that activity.

So if you would like to close a transaction and pay documentary stamps on the full purchase price, give me a call at 727-847-2288, and I’ll be pleased to handle it for you.

Video Summary

Can I buy a home if I have bad credit?  The answer to that question is of course you can.  However, you are going to be somewhat limited in that you are going to have to have a cash down payment and find a seller who is willing to finance the property if you don’t have sufficient monies to pay cash for the property.  The time that the credit’s going to hurt you is, if you have to go to an institutional lender, and they look at credit scores in order to determine whether or not you qualify for their loans.  It’s getting more and more difficult to qualify for an institutional loan or going through a bank.  So you are probably limited to talking to sellers who are willing to finance the property.

Another way that you can go about this is to enter into a lease with an option to purchase, wherein you give the seller a small down payment.  And then they can apply a portion of each monthly payment to your purchase price and then hopefully hold owner financing, but build your credit back up so that you can refinance the property and pay the seller in cash after a certain period of time under a lease with an option to purchase.

So, yes, you can buy property.  However, your options are limited to sellers who are willing to enter into owner financing or leases with options to purchase.  If you would like to discuss this further, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.  Thank you.