Time for Taxes

The most difficult time to complete closings is in the month of October, simply because the property tax bill has not yet been sent out.  The 2013 tax bills will officially be out the first of November, 2013, but not payable until March of 2014.  This is a difficult concept for most buyers and sellers to understand.

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Electronic Recording

Recently the Clerk started their E Recording program.  I dutifully set up my account and, just yesterday, finally had the opportunity to try it out.  The process is fairly simple:  Scan the documents you want to record, log into your account on the Clerk’s website, and upload the documents.  Now documents can be recorded immediately after a closing takes place.  The immediate recording can substanitally cut down on the “gap” – the time it takes from completeing the closing to recording the final documents.

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The Bad Review

After being in business for a long period of time, it is inevitable that you will eventually get a bad review.  This is exactly what happened two weeks ago.  So how does a bad someone get to the point of leaving a bad review?  Expectations – and obviously, despite our best efforts, this persons expectations were not meet.

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What’s the Difference?

Collier County, Florida is unique for several reasons.  Beautiful beaches, waterfront shops, upscale residences and high end shopping are just a few of the things which make Naples a great place to live and work.

Another thing that makes us unique is that we use our own form of sales contract.  The contract is approved by the Naples Area Board of Realtors.  In Collier County it is standard that the buyer pays for the title insurance while in Lee county, it is standard that the seller pays for the title insurance.  In Lee county, real estate contracts are usually written on a FAR/BAR contract, which has been approved by the Florida Association of Realtors and the Florida Bar.  Both contract are well written and work well for real estate transactions.

So what are the differences?  One small difference in Collier County is that the seller has to give the buyer a copy  of their prior title policy.  If they cannot find the prior policy, they agree to give the buyer a credit of $150.00.  This, of course if not the case in Lee county since the seller is paying for the title insurance.  The reason for the $150 has to do with abstracts of title which will be better to explain in a future blog.

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Staying Current

One of my goals for 2013 was to get my website up and running.  Check.  Next goal, start blogging for search engine optimization.  Check.  Make sure you blog once a week so you are consistent.  Ok, so blogging is not my strong suit.  Let’s put this down in “Things I Need to Work on” colomun – maybe I will get better in 2014.

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The Association Foreclosure

Most people know that an association can foreclose a lien.  However, most people do not understand how the association foreclosure works.  This was brought to my attention when a client came into the office.  He had just purchased two association foreclosure judgments and he wanted title insurance on his newly acquired property.  He thought he had gotten a real bargain wanted to know what to do next.

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The Tax Bill

Florida is a confusing state when it comes to tax bills.  Most people think they pay their taxes in advance, but just the opposite is true.  Today is May 26th, 2013, and even if I wanted to pay my taxes for 2013 today, I couldn’t do it.  That’s because the tax bill will not be out until November of this year.  To add even more confusion, Its really not due until March of 2014. Continue reading

Water, Water Everywhere

About two weeks ago, my wife awoke around 1:00 am to use the restroom.  What she found in her bathroom was an inch of water everywhere.  She, of course, woke me up to investigate.  We spent the next three hours cleaning up the water in the bathroom and office.  Thinking we did a good job of cleaning up, we went back to bed at 4:00 am. Continue reading

Third Times the Charm

Working with lenders can be very difficult.  We recently closed a short sale where the buyer was getting a loan through the Veterans Administration and working with a mortgage broker.  This was also a short sale, so not only were we working with the buyer’s mortgage broker and lender, we were also working with the seller’s lender. Continue reading

The Wire

Currently I am working on a difficult closing.  The closing date was set, but the buyer could not close.  This was due in large part due to the fact that the sale of his property did not happen.  And since the sale of this property did not happen, he was unable to close on the purchase.  Sometimes this happens with closing – its like watching dominoes tumble one after the other. Continue reading