Video Summary

Am I required to purchase a survey if I’m purchasing a home?  No, you are not, unless your lender insists that you receive a survey.  Now sometimes the lender says, “No, you don’t need a survey,” however tells the closing agent and the title agent that they must delete the survey exceptions on their title insurance policy, in which case the title agent will say, “Well, we will need a current survey in order to be able to provide that coverage to the lender.”

You may be required to get a survey by the closing agent and title agent as a result of the lender insisting that this exception to the title insurance be deleted.  It has been my experience that lenders do require this exception to be deleted so that, in most instances, if you are going through a bank to get a loan, they are going to require a survey, which just shows that there are no encroachments.

However, if the seller has a current survey, which means that there have been no changes in it, then the title company and the lender may agree to use the old survey with an affidavit signed by the seller and you saying that this survey is accurate and thereby avoid the cost of having a new survey performed.

A survey is really very interesting and informative in that it’s a bird’s-eye view of the property.  It shows you the dimensions of your particular lot, where your house or the improvements are in relationship to the boundary lines, but also show where there are easements, also fences, sidewalks, where the street is.  I always like to see a survey and go over with it with a buyer whenever they are buying property because they usually just deal with the legal description, which doesn’t let them know the size of their property, and so therefore it is very informative.

So you are not required to have one.  I think it’s a good idea to have one.  Unless your lender insists that you have a survey, you don’t have to purchase one, the cost of which is about $300.00 to $350.00.

So if you are looking to buy a piece of property or sell it, 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.

Video Summary

Can I finance a home for my children?

That has been something that’s been done for many, many years. Parents want to help out their kids and they sometimes take out a mortgage on their house in order to give their kids financing and they secure it with a note and mortgage.  Sometimes they do it so that if the child is married to someone that they are concerned about they will make sure that, if there’s a divorce or anything like that, that they are still protected to get their money back or they can afford to give a gift to the child.  That is something that has been going on for as long as I’ve been practicing law.

However Congress has now passed what is called the Dodd-Frank Act and it is very comprehensive; it is over 1,000 pages of legislation, and it is designed to control financial institutions in consumer financing.  Under this bill, they say that you have to comply with a qualified mortgage, which is a 30 year mortgage and has all sorts of requirements under it and interest rates that you must comply with, if you are going to provide financing to a third party; which would include your children.  This does not make any sense.

This does not apply to sellers who are selling their property and then taking back a note in mortgage; that is called a purchased money mortgage, and sellers can do that once a year.  It also does not comply with if its investment property and not their home.

In answer to your question is if you do do the financing for your children and your mortgage does not comply with Dodd-Frank it is subject to various penalties and I don’t know whether or not they would ever have a defense if they choose to assert it as to the enforceability or the penalties in a foreclosure action if you attempted to foreclose a mortgage that does not comply with Dodd-Frank.

They made it extremely difficult and it does not make any sense whatsoever and would hope that if you are frustrated by this you might want to write to your congressman or senator and suggest that the amendment be made to Dodd-Frank which would allow family members to lend money to other family members and not be subject to the regulation and the law under Dodd-Frank.  That is a very long answer and however it is unfortunate.

If you have any other questions I’ll try and answer them; about Dodd-Frank and owner financing.

My phone number is 727-847-2288.