Buyer’s Rights in Purchasing Property

            1.         Did you know your real estate agent only gets paid if the transaction closes? Would you like to have the benefit of an attorney experienced in real estate transactions and law, whose fee is not dependent on whether you close the transaction?

            2.         Do you know how to determine what restrictions and easements will affect your property after you buy it?

            3.         Would you like to know where the easements are located on your property before you buy it?

            4.         Do you want to know the deadlines in the contract for inspections, financing, objecting to the condition of the property, obtaining and reviewing the title evidence, objecting to the status of the title?

            5.         Did you know that you should be getting title insurance to protect you from liens on the property, from fraudulent conveyances, from anyone who may claim an interest in your property, from encroachments or boundary line disputes, and from any other matters that may affect your title?

            6.         Will you be reviewing the Commitment to Insure Title and know how to evaluate it to see what matters will affect your title after you close when it is too late to complain?

            7.         How often have you reviewed a Settlement Statement to be comfortable with the correct allocation of expenses, prorations and pre-paid charges?

            8.         Have you obtained preliminary loan approval?

9.         What conditions need to be satisfied before you purchase the property, e.g., appraisal, financing, environmental, building inspections, plans and permitting?

Michael S. Price, Esq. is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator, located at 1616 Jork Rd., Suite 102, Jacksonville, FL 32207; telephone (904) 396-4445; e-mail mprice@michaelpricelaw.com. Mr. Price focuses on tenant rights, leases, real estate, contracts, divorce, criminal law, and mediating disputes related to construction, leasing, foreclosure, property defects, binder deposits, probate, family owned property and disputes related to business, partnerships and shareholders.