Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Eight Real Estate Mistakes

1.       Deeds without estate status: So you want to add dad, mom or a brother to your Florida property, so you get a Quit Claim Deed from an out of state lawyer, an office supply store or online, fill it out and mail in to be recorded. Three years later they die, and when you go to sell you discover that in order to clear their interest you will need to file an ancillary administration in Florida.  $3,000 and a few months later you close and get to share the proceeds with their heirs.  This can all be avoided by using the proper language to effectuate what your intent is on that deed.  If you want the property to go to everyone’s heirs, do nothing, but if you want to be sure that the property goes to the surviving grantees, simply add, “joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, and not as tenants in common” after the grantee’s name and upon their death, the title goes to the remaining grantee without probate.

2.       Grandma’s Condo: If you own a second home/condominium in Florida and are a resident of another state, you can avoid two probates by simply deeding your second Florida property to yourself for life with a remainder to your chosen heirs. Then, when you die, no probate is necessary.  You can even keep full control by adding Ladybird Powers to your Life Estate Deed.

3.       Applying for Homestead: Florida’s constitutional homestead is an automatic protection arising as soon as you take residency of your Florida home.  However, the statutory homestead tax break requires that you apply by March 1 of the year after you purchase.  Forgetting to apply will costs you about $500 each year, and you will lose a 3% cap on annual appraisal increases. If you closed last year and did not apply, you can still submit an application and ask for a late filing waiver.

4.       Home Improvements: Getting ready to sell your house but need some work done that requires a contractor?  If it is a short job, you should change the automatic one year life of that Notice of Commencement required for permitted jobs to the actual time needed to complete the work.  Otherwise, when you do sell you will have to hunt down that contractor and possibly some subcontractors to get release of liens, even though the job was done on one week and it has been eleven months since your house improvement was completed.

5.       Loan Payoff Surprise: Many people are surprised at closing when their mortgage payoffs are far higher than their last mortgage statement.  For example, if you borrowed $500,000 at 5% five years ago, and you are closing August 10, (and you were told not to make the August mortgage payment) and your August mortgage statement says you owe $448,866.09 in principal, your closing statement could say you owe almost $3,000 more.  That is because mortgages are paid in arrears, meaning that the July payment you made was for interest in June.  So at that August 10th closing they are collecting interest on the principal balance from July 1 to August 10, plus a week extra to cover mailing in the payment.

6.       Mortgage Insurance: Did you purchase your home with less than 20% down?  Then you probably pay mortgage insurance every month.  The insurance is supposed to stop once the loan amount equals 80% of your home’s appraised value.  However, it is the owner’s responsibility to request this relief.  If you think you have hit 80% mark, contact your lender, because each month you delay could easily costs $83 per month for each $100,000 you borrowed.

7.       Rubber Hoses: Go in your laundry room and look at the hoses connected to your washing machine.  If they are black rubber then (i) confirm you have flood insurance; and (ii) get in the car and go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy braided stainless steel hoses in the same length.  Installation is easy, turn of the water to the washing machine, remove old hoses and install new hoses. Burst rubber hoses are probably the number one cause of flood in homes.  You do have flood insurance too?  Many do not so take the time and do one of the easiest fixes possible to protect your home.

8.       Mortgage Interest: Do you know what interest rate you are paying on your home mortgage?  Many people close on a loan when they buy and then never refinance, throwing away thousands of dollars.  If you borrowed $300,000 ten years ago at 6% you are paying $1,798 a month.  If you refinanced all $300,000, that full amount at today’s rate of 3.75% your payment would drop to $1,389 and after closing costs you would have about $40,000 in your pocket.  The smartest move would be to refinance only what you owe for 15 years.  Your payment would still be lower by $300 a month and you would shave another five years on your existing loan.  


Michael J Posner, Esq., is a partner in Ward Damon a mid-sized real estate and business oriented law firm serving all of South Florida, with offices in Palm Beach County.  They specialize in real estate law and business law, and can with these and other real estate mistakes (except the plumbing tip!).  They can be reached at 561.594.1452 or by e-mail at mjposner@warddamon.com

11 comments:

  1. Personal Injury lawyers Alabama - hire car accident lawyer in alabama. Get a better advice on car accidents, claims, insurance and hiring a car accident lawyer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Everybody,
      My name is Ahmad Asnul Brunei, I contacted Mr Osman Loan Firm for a business loan amount of $250,000, Then i was told about the step of approving my requested loan amount, after taking the risk again because i was so much desperate of setting up a business to my greatest surprise, the loan amount was credited to my bank account within 24 banking hours without any stress of getting my loan. I was surprise because i was first fall a victim of scam! If you are interested of securing any loan amount & you are located in any country, I'll advise you can contact Mr Osman Loan Firm via email osmanloanserves@gmail.com

      LOAN APPLICATION INFORMATION FORM
      First name......
      Middle name.....
      2) Gender:.........
      3) Loan Amount Needed:.........
      4) Loan Duration:.........
      5) Country:.........
      6) Home Address:.........
      7) Mobile Number:.........
      8) Email address..........
      9) Monthly Income:.....................
      10) Occupation:...........................
      11)Which site did you here about us.....................
      Thanks and Best Regards.
      Derek Email osmanloanserves@gmail.com

      Delete

  2. Real estate is typically bought and sold either through a licensed real estate agent or directly by the owner.
    Real estate information on the Internet, when people hire a real estate agent today they should look at the particular services offered by the agent and the depth of their experience and knowledge in the relevant property sector.
    Take a look: real estate

    ReplyDelete
  3. I’ve got a quick question – I am looking into purchasing some commercial property for my small business. Will I need to use a “commercial” agent for will someone who sells residential property work as well? Thanks

    Ryan
    http://rdipower.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Everybody,
    My name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.

    BORROWERS APPLICATION DETAILS


    1. Name Of Applicant in Full:……..
    2. Telephone Numbers:……….
    3. Address and Location:…….
    4. Amount in request………..
    5. Repayment Period:………..
    6. Purpose Of Loan………….
    7. country…………………
    8. phone…………………..
    9. occupation………………
    10.age/sex…………………
    11.Monthly Income…………..
    12.Email……………..

    Regards.
    Managements
    Email Kindly Contact: urgentloan22@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Everybody,
    My name is Ahmad Asnul Brunei, I contacted Mr Osman Loan Firm for a business loan amount of $250,000, Then i was told about the step of approving my requested loan amount, after taking the risk again because i was so much desperate of setting up a business to my greatest surprise, the loan amount was credited to my bank account within 24 banking hours without any stress of getting my loan. I was surprise because i was first fall a victim of scam! If you are interested of securing any loan amount & you are located in any country, I'll advise you can contact Mr Osman Loan Firm via email osmanloanserves@gmail.com

    LOAN APPLICATION INFORMATION FORM
    First name......
    Middle name.....
    2) Gender:.........
    3) Loan Amount Needed:.........
    4) Loan Duration:.........
    5) Country:.........
    6) Home Address:.........
    7) Mobile Number:.........
    8) Email address..........
    9) Monthly Income:.....................
    10) Occupation:...........................
    11)Which site did you here about us.....................
    Thanks and Best Regards.
    Derek Email osmanloanserves@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Are you in need of a loan? Do you want to pay off your bills? Do you want to be financially stable? All you have to do is to contact us for more information on how to get started and get the loan you desire. This offer is open to all that will be able to repay back in due time. Note-that repayment time frame is negotiable and at interest rate of 3% just email us (urgentloan22@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This combination of occasions, has at its center, the significant drop in the cost of US land, consolidated with the mass migration of capital from Russia and China. Among outside financial specialists this has all of a sudden and fundamentally delivered an interest for land in California. Seven Real Estate

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now many real estate consultant provide services of house renovation, selling and buying, If you want to know best real estate consultant then Gordon Rutty is best choice.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey very cool web site!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I'll bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I'm happy to find numerous useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .

    ReplyDelete