Many developers and real estate investors seeking to maximize lot space are interested in taking a single family lot and converting them into two (or more) unit condominium buildings. This allows one single family property to be changed into two units that can now be sold to separate buyers.
Congratulations! Your file has made it to the closing table and all parties have signed. Now what?? Many buyers and sellers come to closing with misconceptions about what they think will happen next.
THE BASICS
Taxation of real property in Texas is controlled by provisions found in the Texas Constitution and the Texas Tax Code. Because taxes are based on the assessed value of the property, property taxes are commonly referred to as “ad valorem” taxes.
Wire fraud has become rampant in our industry. The FBI received 351,937 Business Email Compromise Complaints (BEC) in 2018 or over 900 complaints per day, most of them involving some type of wire fraud. The Internet Crime Center (IC3) was formed in May of 2000 and has received a total of 4.4 million complaints since being formed. In the US, BEC scams accounted for 1.3 billion dollars in losses.
TRUSTS IN GENERAL:
What are they?
Trusts in themselves are not legal entities which can own, manage or sell property. A trust operates through one or more trustees, who usually are individuals but may be corporations. It is these trustees who hold legal title to the property for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the trust.
What is a survey?
A real property survey is a report that indicates the location of improvements relative to the boundaries of a property. A real property survey report generally contains an illustration of the physical features of the property and a written report detailing the surveyor’s opinions and concerns.
What are some reasons why we have to have a survey?
WHAT IS A TITLE POLICY?
A private transfer fee is a fee that must be paid each time a property is sold. In general there can be two types of transfer fees assessed. The most common fee is the transfer fee that the homeowner’s association management company charges to handle the transfer from the seller to the buyer. That is not the fee type discussed below.
RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL: WHAT IS IT?
A right of first refusal (ROFR) is a contract that gives one party (we’ll call them the “ROFR holder”) the right to be the first allowed to purchase a specific property if it is offered for sale before that property can be sold to anyone else. There can be different styles of ROFR but the most important thing to note is that a seller may not sell their property on the open market without addressing the ROFR.
