What Are the Legal Concerns of Buying and Selling a Home in Florida?
There are many different types of home residences available for purchase. The one that best fits your needs will depend on various factors.
One of the most overlooked factors is the possible legal concerns related to purchasing and owning that type of home. To decide which type of residence might work best for you, consider your priorities and review the information included in this blog.
Working with a Vero Beach real estate lawyer will help you understand the risks of buying and selling a home. An attorney can ensure you make a good decision before going forward with the purchase.
Your lawyer can guide you through this process, protect your investment, and answer any questions you have. Many also handle title insurance and closing, if necessary.
Types of Homes Available Near You
People rent or own residences in various ways depending on the location. Some homes are more popular in some areas than others.
For example, apartments are more likely to be found than single-family houses in large cities. Condominiums are gaining popularity in many urban areas as well. Some condos are huge, multi-story buildings, while others are duplexes or triplexes with only two or three families living there.
Some of the most common types of home residences include:
Single-Family Homes
Single-family homes are common in many areas of the United States. Whether you are buying a primary home, a vacation home, or a house to use for short-term rental income, it is a good idea to discuss your purchase with a real estate attorney to understand the steps you need to take to protect your investment.
A single-family house gives you the most control over what you do with the property, including both inside and outside the home. You must consider zoning and homeowner association rules, but you generally have options for decoration, renovation, and use.
Because there is so much owner control—including maintenance, repairs, and upkeep—on single-family homes, attorneys recommend a home inspection prior to purchase. It looks for any issues in the house’s structural integrity or systems.
You will also need title insurance to protect your investment. A real estate attorney can help you navigate the purchase process.
Condominiums and Condo Associations
Condominiums are one of the most common types of home ownership outside of single-family houses. In a condominium complex, each buyer is a homeowner. They own their unit and have access to common areas and amenities through a condo association. They often include pools, workout areas, sports courts, playgrounds, and dog parks.
Condo associations are generally elected bodies that make decisions for the group of homeowners and their shared areas. These choices could include how they manage the association, the use of the land, maintenance issues, and the upkeep of common areas.
Condo owners agree to pay the association's ongoing fees and sign a contract as a homeowner on the property. Not all these agreements protect the buyer’s investment as much as you want. Having an attorney review the contract and discuss related issues can benefit you.
Cooperatives (Co-ops)
Co-ops are similar to condominiums, but there are important differences to understand before deciding if it is the best option for you. When you buy a condo, you make an investment and own the real estate.
With a co-op, you do not buy the individual unit. Instead, you invest in the building as a whole. The residents are shareholders who lease their units from the co-op.
In addition to investing in the co-op and paying costs associated with leasing your unit, you will likely have dues for operating the co-op and maintaining common areas.
These factors could make the costs of a co-op higher than a condo or townhome. It is also possible that the co-op rejects your decision to invest as a shareholder.
Because of their complex structure, numerous legal and contractual considerations exist for those considering investing in a cooperative. A real estate attorney can review the paperwork, answer your questions, and help you understand your options.
Townhomes
Townhomes are single-family homes that share walls without one or more other single-family homes. The homeowners own their property and are generally responsible for the upkeep, maintenance, and care.
However, associations or rules usually oversee the shared parts of these homes, which is something you must consider when purchasing a townhouse.
You want to ensure your neighboring homeowners are responsible for following certain procedures and making necessary repairs. For example, imagine a storm damages the shared roof of your townhomes.
You believe a new roof is necessary, but your neighbor disagrees. What dispute resolution options or rules are in place to solve this situation? A real estate lawyer can review the agreements and explain if your rights are protected.
Mobile Homes
Mobile homes, manufactured homes, and trailers could be parked on their own or be part of a mobile home park or court.
Trailers are built at a factory and towed to land where they will stay at least semi-permanently. Many build foundations, porches, and other permanent fixtures for their mobile homes.
While you can generally rent or purchase a mobile home, land ownership is the only part of these transactions handled like a real estate purchase. Trailers are not considered real estate. Instead, the sale is more like the purchase of personal property.
This nuance is often confusing for buyers, and there are some concerns you need to address when buying a trailer, regardless of whether you own or lease the property. An attorney can review them with you and walk you through the process.
Apartments
Apartments are similar to condos since they share common areas. However, each apartment unit has a lease instead of being individually owned.
While there might be an association to oversee these common areas, the final decisions come down to the apartment owners. When you sign a rental agreement for an apartment, it is not a real estate purchase. It’s a good idea to hire a real estate attorney to review the apartment contract to make sure it complies with Florida law.
What Do I Need to Know When Considering a New Home?
Whether you purchase or sign a lease, your monthly payment for your mortgage or rent is likely your biggest monthly bill.
You spend a lot of money on your home. Protecting this investment is paramount. What could jeopardize your investment depends on the type of home you purchase.
Before you decide on a type of residence or a particular home, you must understand the pros and cons as well as the specific agreements related to that home’s oversight committee or homeowner’s association.
Agreements and association rules could prevent you from using your new home the way you want to if you choose to live in:
- A single-family home or townhome with zoning restrictions or an HOA
- A condominium
- A co-op
In a co-op, condo, or townhome, you also need to carefully review any agreements related to each property owner’s responsibilities. You want to ensure that your neighbors must participate in the upkeep of the property.
In many cases, prospective homebuyers do not know what they need to ask. There could be pitfalls of a purchase they do not know to look for or issues they fail to consider because they have never encountered them before.
A real estate contract lawyer should be aware and raise awareness of possible issues before you commit to buying a property.
How Can a Real Estate Attorney Help Me Decide Which Home to Buy?
When someone considers buying or selling property or another type of home residence, there are good reasons to discuss the transaction with a real estate attorney first.
Many real estate transactions have similarities, but other aspects of a purchase or sale could vary widely based on the type of residence.
Not only can a property attorney explain each type of residence and discuss which ones will not meet your needs based on your preferences and plans, but they can also go deeper into the fees, agreements, and other things you must be aware of. For example, imagine you are considering a co-op as an option.
The attorney can review the contract for shareholders and discuss:
- Your responsibilities as a shareholder
- Your options for choosing the unit you want or upgrading later
- Your rights to remain in the unit and when you might have to move
- The fees you pay as a shareholder
- Any additional fees paid for your unit
- Your fees for the association or governing body of the co-op
Contracts could lay out how to resolve disputes and how the association addresses issues that affect multiple shareholders. Some of these same concerns could occur in condos and townhomes, as well. Single-family homes with homeowner’s associations also frequently require signed agreements from new residents.
When working with a real estate attorney, you can ensure you understand what is in these agreements and that you are OK abiding by them for the foreseeable future.
How Can a Real Estate Attorney Help Me Purchase My New Home?
Not all types of properties are a good fit for every buyer. It depends on your needs, what you plan to do with the property and other factors.
Understanding the different types of home residences and their pros and cons will help you make a decision. Of course, many buyers use a broker or real estate agent to help them weigh their options.
This is a good choice, but there are benefits of working with a lawyer not available when you hire a broker only.
Agents do not have the experience dealing with legal issues that real estate lawyers do. While they know how the process works and often deal with agreements and other contracts, they cannot offer legal advice.
Moreover, a real estate agent may not be aware of all the pitfalls and potential headaches that could occur if you purchase a property not fully understanding the legal implications.
In addition to offering advice and helping you choose the right property for you, the attorney should guide you through the process and help you complete the purchase. Sometimes, the real estate agent’s lawyer manages this process instead.
These tasks could include:
- Reviewing the sales agreement and helping to make any necessary changes
- Answering questions about the loan or mortgage agreement
- Ensuring you have the opportunity for a home inspection
- Including stipulations about the outcome of the inspection in the agreement
- Handling title clearance and title insurance for the property
- Managing closing
- Going over the final paperwork
- Filing all necessary documents
How Can an Attorney Assist You With Title Insurance?
Real estate lawyers also play an essential role in title insurance in many of these cases. Title insurance protects the money you spend on buying property in the event there is a problem with the property’s ownership history and someone else has a valid claim to it.
The attorney or a title company can conduct a title search and look for any issues in the property’s background before issuing a policy.
The findings from this search can greatly reduce the risk of a problem and protect your money if there is one. Many single-family homes, condos, and property purchases require title insurance if you finance through a bank or another financial institution.
Contact A Real Estate Law Firm Near You Can Discuss Your Next Steps
Real estate agents help homebuyers identify, tour, and negotiate the purchase of properties.
Additionally, they can answer legal questions and review contracts to ensure they protect the buyer’s investment. For these reasons, agents and buyers alike often work with real estate law firms.
A real estate law firm in Vero Beach can review your potential purchase and guide you through the buying or selling process.
Professional real estate attorneys can help you weigh your options, review all contracts, decide if a property is right for you, and complete the purchase by handling title insurance and closing.