Real Estate

Decisions concerning buying and selling property are the biggest financial decisions that most of us will ever make.  We work together with you, your real estate agent, your bank, and your insurance company to help you make the best decisions possible when dealing with land.   Whether its buying or selling a home, forming a partnership or corporation to invest in income producing property, or buying or leasing commercial space for your very own business, we can guide you through the process step-by-step and help ensure that you get the results you want.

Here's a list of just some of the things we can help you with:

• Buying Property
• Selling Property
• Leasing Property From Someone
• Leasing Property To Someone
• Title Insurance Matters
• Real Estate Agent Forms
• Property Disclosure Forms
• Lead Paint Disclosures
• Deeds
• Real Estate Transfer Taxes
• Rental Agreements
• Property Disputes and Litigation (see the Real Estate Litigation section below)

 

Foreclosure Avoidance/Short Sales

Unfortunately, the real estate market has taken a bit of a downturn lately.  This has left many people in the unfortunate position of having a mortgage on their house for more money than the house is worth.  When combined with other unforeseen problems, such as a sickness in the family, being laid off from work, or some other event that has made it difficult to make payments on your bills, the sudden specter of foreclosure or bankruptcy may be looming large in your sights.

Foreclosures and bankruptcies can ruin your credit for years.  If part of your financial crunch involves a mortgage that you can no longer afford, we recommend considering a "short sale".  A "short sale" is a sale in which your home is sold to a new buyer for less money than the amount you owe to your mortgage lender.  The only people who hate foreclosures more than the person being foreclosed on is the bank that is actually foreclosing on the property.  Foreclosures are expensive, time consuming, and complicated for banks to pursue.  Most of the time, the bank wants a foreclosure even less than you do.

So what is the benefit to you?  Many banks have a department with a name such as "loss mitigation".  What these departments do is try to minimize the loss that the bank will incur in the event that one of their mortgagors can no longer afford to make payments.  Whether foreclosure has already begun or even if money is just really tight and credit card debts are piling up, the bank is very often willing to make a deal.  These deals typically involve the bank agreeing to allow the house to be sold for its current market value to a new buyer.  Many times the bank will agree to forgive the difference between the sale price and what is still owed on your mortgage.  If they do, there will likely be tax implications to this, but these can be dealt with too.  The important thing is that you can get out of a bad situation without having to incur the credit report nightmare of a foreclosure or a bankruptcy.

Your bank will likely require quite a bit of documentation in order to give you the go ahead on a short sale.  In fact, it is difficult even to get through to the right person to talk to in order to pursue a short sale.  We can help you negotiate with the bank, find a real estate agent, comply with the legal requirements and documentation requirements you will need to meet, and, if the bank agrees, sell your house and get out from under the debt of your mortgage.  Call us today to schedule a free consultation about your short sale options.  One of our attorneys will be happy to talk with you about your situation, advise you about whether you are a good candidate for a short sale, discuss the potential tax implications of a short sale, and explain the process to you so that you can make an informed decision about how to protect yourself and your family from the devastating consequences of a foreclosure.  For more detailed information, click on the Short Sales link on the left.