A: There are a number of scams out there that homeowners must be wary of, or you can indeed lose your house even if you owe only a relatively small amount of money. In one scam, the “lender” agrees to pay your back maintenance and current monthly mortgage and fees for a certain time-period if you write the monthly check to them by a specific date each month. Miss that date even by a minute, and they take the title to your house that they are holding as collateral for the loan. If you are indeed behind on your monthly maintenance payments, try to work out a plan with your association or contact only a reputable lender.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: This is a question I am asked regularly from clients on their second marriage who are drafting their wills. They want to leave their house to their biological children, not a current, often late-in-life spouse. However, Florida law provides for a “homestead” protection for spouses, giving them special rights to their primary residence. That means a person cannot disinherit a spouse from homestead property. Even if your will were to state that your children are to get your house after your death, the courts would not honor your wishes. The only way around this law is if your spouse signed a prenuptial agreement before you two were wed, waiving her rights to the homestead property.  If this is not the case, work with an attorney to draft your will so that it complies with Florida law, perhaps by leaving your home to your spouse but more of your money to your kids.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or via www.GaryLandau.com.

A: It doesn’t make much of a difference, so you should schedule your closing for when it is most convenient for you and the seller. The out-of-pocket costs you must pay at closing are a bit lower when you close at or near the end of the month. This is because you must prepay interest on your mortgage for the first month, so if you close, say, on June 29th, you only need to prepay one day’s worth of interest.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: First, my sympathies for your loss. As to your question, assuming the trust names you as both the successor trustee and the beneficiary of the condo, decisions about the home passed to you upon your father’s death. In fact, this easy transition is one of the benefits of having a revocable trust, which is created by the person owning the assets and can be changed by him at any time. You will now be able to sell the condo or, subject to approval by the condo board, to live there. When you are ready to sell, the lawyer or title company handling the closing will want to review the trust to be sure the power to sell the condo indeed rests with you.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: With the housing market cooling, buyers might want to consider selling their property before they go looking for a new one. However, since you have already found a house you love, it’s too late to take that option. You could try presenting an offer to the seller “contingent” on the sale of your house. But most sellers won’t go for such a plan when you don’t yet have a contracted buyer. Another option is to borrow the money you need short term, against the value of your current house, called a “bridge loan.” Interest rates and costs for such a loan can be high. You can also consider getting a home equity loan on your current property before you put it on the market, typically a cheaper option. If you have enough in your 401K or a “secured” asset such as bonds, you might be able to borrow against those. Talk to a lender or a financial advisor to determine the best options for you. It is important to have an attorney review the contract on the house you plan to purchase, to make sure that the deal (and your deposit) is subject to your getting the funding you need.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: No legal agreement is ever a standard form. It is always subject to negotiation on both sides. Especially now that the market has softened, the seller may be even more willing to make concessions. This is important because many of these type of contracts (prepared by the sellers attorney!!) go out of their way to protect the seller, but don’t do much to protect you and your money. For example, many contracts treat the deal as a cash deal even if you plan to get a mortgage; this means if you don’t get the mortgage for some reason, you may still be forced to buy the unit or forfeit your deposit. Before you sign any contract, consult with a lawyer who can help you understand the contract’s fine print, and can negotiate with the seller if you desire.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: As a lawyer friend of mind likes to say, if it’s not in writing it’s as if it never happened. To be enforceable, an agreement must be written down and signed by both parties. Your lawyer or Realtor can draft this agreement, or you can even do it yourself. If you do draft if yourself, be sure you include exactly what is to be left in the house (green cotton drapes in the living room, crystal chandelier in the front hall, etc.), that it sigbed by buyer and seller, and that there is no additional fee for these items.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: A growing number of attorneys are turning to “lady bird deeds” in just these situations. Your mother could do one of these deeds to put you (and any siblings you have, if appropriate) on the deed. She would retain what lawyers call a “life estate,” meaning she can live there as long as she wants and sell it without your (or your siblings’) consent if she decides to. The advantage of this type of deed is that she keeps full legal control of the property. You should know, though, that there are some risks involved. If you (or your siblings, if they are on the deed) have a judgment filed against you, it can become a lien on the property. Also, in rare situations, things don’t always turn out as planned. Recently, for example, a woman put her two sons on her deed in this way. Tragically, one son died shortly after getting married; now the young widow, in the family for a very brief time, is entitled to a share of the condo when mom dies. A lawyer can help you determine if this type of deed, or perhaps a different legal approach, is right for your mother’s situation.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: Putting a child on your deed can be a good form of estate planning–one that I do sometimes recommend to my clients. But there are some things you need to be aware of: First, you need to check the documents of your condo association. Although many exempt immediate family members, others require that anyone added to the deed go through an approval process–which requires time and money. Second, be aware that any financial judgments against your son, now or in the future, can become a lien on your condo, and that later, should you decide to sell, he will likely need to sign all documents. (If he is skiing in Switzerland, that could hold up your closing.) If you do add him, be sure your lawyer does not put him on the deed as “tenants in common.” That way the condo will automatically go to him upon your death as you desire.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.

A: Sometimes Realtors push buyers to use a specific title company to handle the closing. Buyers often don’t know that many of these title companies are actually owned by or have a financial relationship with the Realtor’s office. A recent article in Money magazine reported that buyers often pay more for their closing than they have to, because they go with the company recommended by the Realtor without shopping around. The firms of these real estate agents “frequently get a cut of the premiums,” the article warns. Money’s advice: “Don’t just use your broker’s in-house title agent…who has little incentive to compete on price (and may get undisclosed commissions).” Know, too, that in Florida, buyers have the choice between using a title company or an attorney who writes title. While both can handle the paperwork and create a title policy, only an attorney represents your interests in the deal.

Gary Landau is a Coral Springs-based real estate and probate attorney. He can be reached at 954-979-6566 or Garysline@aol.com. If you need advice for your particular situation, contact your attorney.