At Grimaldi Law Firm, a leading real estate law firm in Florida, we’re always working hard to protect and educate new home buyers on the potential pitfalls of a purchase gone wrong.
We all need to remember that sellers need protection too!
A seller has needs just as important as a buyer in any real estate transaction and those needs should be protected with their own representation during the closing process. We have seen a trend of real estate contracts becoming “dead deals” when the home is older or overpriced and we want to help you avoid even come close to this.
Grimaldi Law Firm prides itself on taking our clients from contracts to keys without any hiccups, so here are four ways to ensure your real estate sale makings it to the closing table as smoothly as possible.
1. Inspect early
Conduct a pre-contract inspection on your property with a licensed inspector. This avoids having the potential buyer run into any unsatisfactory surprises that may turn them off to purchasing your place altogether. When a pre-contract inspection is conducted, you have the ability to fix, repair, or replace anything that could potentially turn your sale sour way before the buyer’s inspector steps in to do his work.
2. Avoid the unqualified buyer
An unqualified buyer only means one thing for a person selling their home in Florida: major risk. The risk involved here is that if you enter into a contract with a person who ends up not qualifying for their loan, you’ve just wasted a great deal of your time engaging in and negotiating with a flake of a buyer. To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, insist upon only showing your home to pre-qualified buyers. It is not uncommon for a seller to request a pre-qualification letter and/or proof to ensure the deal can actually make it to the closing table.
3. Appraise early
Much like an early inspection, an appraisal ahead of the game can save you tons of headaches down the road. Before your realtor recommends a price or you go ahead and overprice your home – have it appraised. It is important to get an understanding of what your property is truly worth and what you can reasonably expect as a final sale price of your home before the buyer’s appraiser steps in. If you overprice your home and enter into a contract with someone who has the house appraised only to find that it is worth less than you’re asking – you’re very likely going to end up with less than you’re asking for the sale of your home. Avoid any surprises like these by doing the dirty work up front, and ensuring you’re setting a price for your home that is reasonable.
4. Review your file with the city for any open or expired permits
We recommend that all of our Buyers include a clause in their contract for the seller tp close out any open or expired permits. There is nothing that can delay or “kill” a closing like knowing that there is a permit issue as they can sometimes take months to resolve. Sellers usually don’t realize that a contractor they hired years ago never finished the last step of closing out the permit. Pull your property on your city’s permit search system to make sure you don’t have anything lurking in the shadows.
When it comes to the best real estate advice for buyers and sellers, reach out to us today! We want to ensure that your real estate transaction not only ends up in your favor, but that you also obtain all the knowledge of real estate from a trusted professional.
At Grimaldi Law Firm, your future is our present.
Melinda Grimaldi is an attorney in Hollywood, Florida, whose practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial and residential real estate and estate planning law.
She can be reached at (954) 491-8707
or
melinda@grimaldi-law.com
Special Note
The information on this blog is of a general nature and is not intended to answer any individual’s legal questions. Do not rely on information presented herein to address your individual legal concerns. If you have a legal question about your individual facts and circumstances, you should consult an experienced real estate attorney. Your receipt of information from this website or blog does not create an attorney-client relationship and the legal privileges inherent therein.