Home is where the Homestead is, where that sweet tax break allows you to live comfortably for years without the constant tap of exponentially increasing property taxes on your door. However, blended families can create a unique risk to homestead exemption . Here’s the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. She owned her home on a quiet circle, with lots of birds and squirrels. It’s the story of a man named Grady, who was busy with three bo

There was a man with two parcels of land. He had a single mortgage for both, but two separate tax bills. When the Man failed to pay his mortgage, the Bank foreclosed, but the Bank only paid the taxes on one of the two parcels of land. The Bank had the Certificate of Title for both parcels, and sold them to Investor Abe. At the same time, the second parcel was sold in a tax deed sale to Investor Bea. Investor Abe thought he was getting both parcels; instead, he only got

Andy and Rhonda live together as boyfriend and girlfriend in a beautiful home, in a beautiful relationship. Andy is older, and has four grown children from a previous marriage. The home title is only in his name, and he wants his children to inherit it eventually, but wants to protect Rhonda. He could do a Will, but girlfriend Rhonda runs the risk of having a Partition Action filed by the four children to force her out in the sale of the home. As long as Andy’s alive,

Question: If the City has property, but it’s landlocked, is it a good real estate investment? Answer: Not if you want to make money. Technically it’s not landlocked if the roads are platted but not open; however, it’s a fool’s folly to buy property that doesn’t have practical access. Why? Because of Title Insurance. You cannot insure your rights to the property title without practical access. Remember: Legal Access is different from Physical Access. And no, you can

A deed is the written version of an exchange of a clod of earth from the old English laws of real estate sales, according to my brother, attorney Rusty Collins. In Florida, a deed is valid with: Conveyance, a Buyer and Seller, Consideration, and a Property Description. But it can’t be recorded without a Notary . The Conveyance has to be signed, witnessed, and delivered along with the other elements mentioned above. The Notary doesn’t validate the Conveyance; the Notary ma

Bob and Susie were boyfriend and girlfriend, and ten years ago they bought a house together. It was Bob’s understanding that he was the only one going on title because he was the only one borrowing the money for the purchase. Bob and Susie are no longer a couple, but they still live in that same house together. Bob’s the only one who’s ever made payments on the mortgage over the past decade, and the house has $500,000 in equity now. Bob wants to refinance and payoff som

In a Foreclosure, the Homeowner has the Right to Redeem their loan—by paying off the total loan balance to the lender—up to the time the Certificate of Sale is issued. Another option is Reinstatement, which allows the Homeowner to catch up on all back payments, interest, and whatever attorney fees have accumulated. But with a Private Loan, Reinstatement might not be available to the Homeowner, depending on the mortgage contract. If a Homeowner gets behind on mortgage payme

True or False: You can’t force Grandma to close on her Homestead Property once it’s gone Under Contract. Answer: Read the Contract. Real Estate Contracts mean something. Terms make a big difference. And nuances can have more impact than Grandma’s fudge brownies. Once the Seller goes Under Contract, then the Seller is subject to the Terms of that Contract and all its nuances, even with a Primary Residence. Before you grab a second helping of the notion that

The risk is ridiculous for a Buyer who takes an Agreement for Deed because then the Buyer is truly subject to whatever’s going wrong in the Seller’s financial life . An Agreement for Deed or a Rent-To-Own, lets the Buyer make payments towards a property, eventually to own that property once enough payments are made. In a twenty year financing plan, that’s a long time for things to go wrong. David and Sam were friends. David was just starting out and wanted to buy a home

What were you going to be for Halloween? Let’s say you own investment properties, and in the course of business, you offer financing to some of your buyers. You’re going to be in legal trouble for Halloween and beyond if you make too many of those loans without a license! You might be a LENDER if you’re holding three loans. Often, three is the golden rule, but there are lots of rules for Lenders, and if you’re an unlicensed Lender, you could get tangled up in them. Sure

There was a man who had two sons, and they formed an LLC for their cattle ranch. The Father was the Manager, and his Sons were Members...

Tax Deed sales are a good way to pick up property at a low purchase price. Plus, wave a Tax Deed over a piece of property, and certain...

Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s to your best advantage, and that goes double in real estate. One person’s deal can be...

Attention Tax Deed Investors: We need people to buy Tax Deeds to get money back into the county coffers. Tax Deed sales keep the funds...

Meet the team —A picture is worth a thousand words. My closers are Wayde Carter, Cindy Brown, Shannon Gray, Stacey Mackey, Brandy...

Just because you can get a County Permit to change your property in St. Augustine South does not mean those changes are condoned on the...

You never really know who’s reading this. I’ve gotten calls from Denver and New York City about this blog. A woman recently posted to...

In Malta, Idaho, there is a private homeowner, who out of the goodness of his heart, built a long water slide for friends and neighboring...

A “hiatus” in land-title-speak is where there’s a gap between two pieces of property that’s not meant to be there . Often I talk about...

Pistols at dawn was a much faster way of settling property disputes—a lot less paperwork. Forget the title search, who needs a survey,...