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.

Video Summary

Who pays for title insurance?  Well, title insurance is issued in conjunction with the sale of real property.  The sale of real property is governed by a contract between the buyer and the seller.  The provisions in the real estate contract indicate who is to pay for the title insurance premium and the closing cost as well as the other closing costs such as the documentary stamps.  It is controlled by contract.

The Pasco County or Tampa Bay Area it is customary for the seller to pay for title insurance.

If it is a cash transaction the only closing costs the buyer would have would be a home inspection, a survey, termite inspection, and the recording of a deed.  That is the custom in this area, although it is controlled by contract and if you are selling your home you can show that the buyer is to pay for the closing costs and pay for the title insurance.

The title insurance cost is usually shifted to the buyer if you are buying a new home from a developer; they usually shift that cost to you, to a buyer.

Hopefully I have answered your questions about who pays for title insurance and if you are selling your home and would like for me to prepare the contract please give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Should I sign an exclusive buyer representation agreement?

Exclusive buyer representation agreements are usually executed if you have an unusual request as a buyer, certainly in commercial transactions where they have to search to find a particular piece of property.  If you are in need of finding a piece of property which needs to fit your particular needs, I would think that you would want to sign an exclusive buyer arrangement because they will have to do a lot of work to try and locate and find a particular property and they have a certain real estate commission.

If, however, you are simply in the market to buy a home and you are looking at the various listings, I would hesitate to sign an exclusive buyer arrangement, since you can look at any number of properties on your own or if other properties come up from other agents then you are certainly in a position to switch.

The other problem with exclusive buyer representation is if you become disenchanted with your agent, who is your exclusive agent, you have a difficult time in getting rid of them or having to pay them, particularly if there is a particular piece of property.  I would suggest that if you do not have any particular needs or specific type of property that is going to take great deal of research, you may not need to sign a buyer representation agreement.

If you have any questions give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

How much money is saved if you pay cash for a closing versus obtaining a mortgage?

If you are a cash buyer your customary closing cost consists of recording the deed, if you wish a survey, the cost of the survey, a home inspection, which I would recommend, but you would pay for the cost of the home inspection and any termite inspections.  Otherwise your only cost that you have would be the cost of recording the deed.

You would need to look at the contract closely to make sure that there’s no closing fee by the title agent when you look at the contract.  If you obtain a mortgage or go get a mortgage from an institutional lender, you are looking at probably spending a couple of thousand dollars with the lender in order to pay their processing fees and their appraisal fees and various costs and charges including the documentary stamps and intangible tax on the mortgage.

It is going to cost you at least a couple of thousand dollars to go through the financial lender.  If you have an owner financing; meaning the seller is financing the property for you, you would still have documentary stamps and intangible tax on the note and mortgage which is $5.50 per $1000 that you would have and some additional recording costs and possibly closing fees and title insurance.

You save a substantial amount of money if you pay cash at closing versus obtaining a mortgage particularly from an institutional lender.

If you have any questions about that give me a call at 727-847-2288.