Contingencies are parts of a contract. Lawyers often refer to them as conditions proceeding, which are things that must occur for the closing to move forward. For instance, the buyer may have an inspection contingency and may have a certain number of days to inspect the property or they don’t like the inspection results and may be able to back out of the contract. Another common contingency is the financing contingency where the buyer has a certain amount of time to obtain financing or they don’t have to follow through and close on the deal. It’s important to consult with an experienced attorney that can tell you, as the seller or the buyer, what contingencies are necessary or which contingencies may not be in your favor that you want to negotiate out of the contract.

If a party breaches a contract, the remedies available to the other party depend on what’s in the contract and whether the contract excludes specific remedies that would be typically available under the law. The most common remedy would be money damages to make the person whole again in the event of a breach of the contract, but also specific performance. That’s when you ask the court to make the seller perform the deal and there are a variety of other remedies, depending on the situation.

(silence).Some typical closing costs in a residential real estate transaction include state of Florida documentary stamp taxes, recording fees, title insurance, loan fees if you’re borrowing money, a survey. There’s a variety of closing costs and each situation will determine whether or not those closing costs apply to you.(silence).

Some of the key provisions in a real estate purchase contract are, of course, the purchase price, the closing date, a financing contingency, an inspection contingency, but there’s also a lot of smaller, little-known clauses that are important to the transaction. It’s very important to retain the services of an experienced real estate attorney to review the contract if you have any questions.

It’s important when you buy real estate to draft the contract to give yourself what’s called an inspection period. This is a time period where you can have a professional inspector come in, inspect the house. You can have an AC person inspect the air conditioning, an electrician inspect the electrical system. During this period, the honeymoon kind of has worn off, so that you more realistically get a picture of what you’re buying, but it’s important that you draft that into the contract in advance because if you don’t, then you’re going to be buying the house as is with that problem.

Sometimes, questions or problems can arise following a residential real estate closing. If you’ve retained the services of an attorney for the real estate transaction, the first call may be to them, to get their advice on the situation. You could also contact the real estate agents or the title company that handled the closing, depending on what the question is.

It’s a good idea, always, to have an attorney represent your interests, when you purchase real property, especially in a situation where you’re buying a REO, or real estate owned property from a bank. The reason is, most banks typically have an addendum that overrides the terms of the contract, that are, of course, heavily slanted in your favor. It’s good to have an attorney be able to explain this document to you, and know what your rights are, because it’s not typical contract that we use in Florida.

Simultaneous closings can have a lot of issues. That’s typically when a person is selling a house and buying a house at the same time. Depending on the situation, a good real estate attorney can provide contingencies in the contract that will allow you to stay in the house after closing or you have to make arrangements for temporary lodging. Either way, it can be very tricky when you’re selling two … selling a home and buying a home at the same time.

A real estate broker and a real estate lawyer have different skillsets. A real estate broker should have a good knowledge of the market. A real estate attorney is going to advise you on where you stand legally, make sure that any clauses that you want in the contract are put into the contract and written in a legal and enforceable way. The best real estate transactions are when the real estate agent and real estate attorney work hand in hand to represent your best interest.

If the inspection is not satisfactory, it goes back to what are the terms of the contract say. In Florida, there is two commonly used contracts. One of which is an AS-IS contract. The AS-IS contract usually give a period of days, anywhere from three to 15 days, for the buyer to inspect the property. Essentially, under that contract, the buyer can back out for any reason or no reason. However, if you’re using a different type of contract that doesn’t allow for the buyer to back out based on the inspections, then the seller may be able to hold the buyer to the contract and proceed towards closing.