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Untangling Joint Ownership of Real Estate
By: Ronald L. Finck, Esq. It is not uncommon in the farm community for real estate to be owned jointly by two or more owners.  Many times, parents will transfer their real estate to more than one child as part of their estate and farm succession plan.  Joint ownership of real estate often presents unique problems for the joint owners.  A co-ownership agreement should be considered to set forth how the joint owners will use...
What if?
By: James L. Goldsmith, Esq. These two words are the start of many questions by those who draft contracts, including agreements for the sale of real estate.   Consider Paragraph 18 of the PAR standard agreement entitled Maintenance and Risk of Loss.  This paragraph was borne of the following “what ifs?”  What if the HVAC system or other systems fail after signing but before settlement?  What if the seller is unwilling to repair within the sale...
Getting Creative
By James L. Goldsmith, Esquire The most dangerous clause in the Standard Agreement for the Sale of Real Estate (ASR) is found in our current Paragraph 32(B), Additional Terms. Here’s where agents can let loose with the most creative use of the pen imaginable! A problem is, that when these works of art fail for any reason, they are likely to penalize the author (agent) and his or her client. Most of you are familiar with the legal maxim “ambiguities are...
Fessing Up
Recommendations On How Agents Should Handle Missed Agreement Deadlines by James L. Goldsmith, Esquire Of the common mistakes in residential sales, none occurs more frequently than the failure to abide by timelines, specifically those found in the inspection contingencies. If there is a time limit, someone will miss it. In the Standard Agreement, the burden of observing the timeline is imposed on the buyer. If the seller does not agree to satisfy all terms of...
Selling Real Estate in an Era of Modern Surveilling
By: James L. Goldsmith, Esq. You either have firsthand experience or have heard stories of how modern surveillance techniques are entwined in the sale of real estate. Baby cameras, pet monitoring applications, security systems, and other surveillance equipment with varying degrees of technological and recording capabilities are now common features in homes. Some systems have no audio capabilities and are only available to view in real-time, while others may also record and store both audio...
A Tip from the West?
by James L. Goldsmith, Esq. Timely tender of deposit checks is a growing problem that did not exist when offers and deposit checks were hand delivered. Now, deposit checks follow an offer’s acceptance by a handful of days. Further, a typical agreement includes a checkmark in Paragraph 26(G) limiting the seller to retaining paid deposits as the sole remedy in the event of buyer default. Thus, if a buyer backs out of the agreement and...
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