Melanson Law PA – Florida Estate Planning and Administration Attorney

To ensure success in your real estate transaction, you need to begin long before you reach the closing table. In almost every real estate transaction, the question is usually the same. “Is it necessary for me to hire a real estate attorney?” The answer is both simple and complex. Whether you are the buyer or the seller, it is important to understand your rights and duties and these obligations should be well documented in a properly executed purchase agreement. Florida has specific requirements for each real estate transaction but sometimes local practice dictates how specific items are handled. Other critical steps include a through inspection of the real property to provide you with physical details about the real property followed by thoroughly researched title review. With the dramatic changes in the real estate market over the past few years and the impact bank foreclosures have had in our area, it is to your advantage to hire an experienced real estate attorney, no matter which side of the closing table you will sit on!

A survey is a very important aspect of a real estate transaction. A survey will show you the property boundaries, the location of any buildings, as well as any encroachments!

Title insurance provides protection against loss arising from problems connected to the title to your property. While title insurance is not mandatory, it is an important step in the real estate closing process. In Florida, the cost of title insurance is promulgated, meaning that whether you secure the title insurance through a licensed title agent (ie. a Title Company) or an attorney, you pay the same price. The difference is that employees of a title company, including an attorney employed by a title company, are precluded by law from giving you legal advice.

Perhaps you need to know how you should hold title to the property? What is your legal obligation to your lender? What happens at foreclosure? What are restrictive covenants and which ones are enforceable? What is part of the real estate and what is not? What does the survey mean and what encroachments meaningful? Will transferring your property to a trust leave you with no title insurance? What effect do restrictive covenants have on additions and improvements to real property? These and thousands of other questions are generally asked before, at and after settlement. It is to your advantage to hire an experienced real estate attorney to ensure that your questions are answered timely to ensure success at the closing table.