March 8, 2024 • 26 mins
In this episode, host Jeff Adelman talks with real estate attorney Celena Nash about:
1) Why it is important to engage with a real estate attorney before signing any contracts on property
2) Why hiring a real estate attorney is not as much as you might think, and can prevent
3) The status of the market in March 2024
4) How embracing technology has changed the closing process for the better since the pandemic
5) Programs available for first time home buyers and much more.
To contact Celena Nash, call (954) 509-3793, or or to learn more information about her practice, go to www.nashreallaw.com.
To contact host Jeff Adelman about the show or about a personal injury claim, call (561) 417-5656 or email him at jeff@lawbni.com . To learn more about Jeff Adelman's practice, go to www.lawbni.com .
1) Why it is important to engage with a real estate attorney before signing any contracts on property
2) Why hiring a real estate attorney is not as much as you might think, and can prevent
3) The status of the market in March 2024
4) How embracing technology has changed the closing process for the better since the pandemic
5) Programs available for first time home buyers and much more.
To contact Celena Nash, call (954) 509-3793, or or to learn more information about her practice, go to www.nashreallaw.com.
To contact host Jeff Adelman about the show or about a personal injury claim, call (561) 417-5656 or email him at jeff@lawbni.com . To learn more about Jeff Adelman's practice, go to www.lawbni.com .
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Hello, and welcome to another editionof Questions for Lawyers. I'm your host,
board certified civil trial lawyer, JeffAdelman. The purpose of this podcast
is to ask questions as if Iwere the client talking with the attorney for
the first time, trying to getconsumers to ask the questions that they really
(00:28):
need to know when they are consultingwith an attorney. Today, we're very
privileged to have Selena Nash as ourguest, who specializes in real estate law.
And Selena, thank you so muchfor being with us today. Thank
you Jeff for having me. Iappreciate it. Selena, Can you tell
(00:49):
everybody a little bit about yourself.Yes, I am a practicing attorney,
been doing this for the last fifteenyears, this exclusive real estate I also
have my office in Course Springs,Florida. I am a resident of Parkland
and a mom, a mom oftwo little girls, and I am the
(01:17):
owner of the law office of SelenaR. Nash, PA, where we
have been operating in Course Springs forthe last nine years I believe nine years.
Wow. And in that nine years, Selena, there's been just a
few changes here and there. Canyou talk about that for us? The
(01:40):
changes in real estate. There havebeen quite a bit, yeah, just
changes in the market in general inSouth Florida. But South Florida is always
going to be the mecca of realestate. We have a variety. I
mean, our landscape here in Floyda, it is just awesome. It's a
place that people come to start theirlives, people who come to end their
retirement in their careers for retirement.So this is just always a moving thing,
(02:06):
and real estate is one of thosethings here in South Florida that's always
going to be revolving, good andbad. And the last few years,
especially since COVID, things definitely changedfor us, some good, some bad.
But our market is competitive and it'salways going to be competitive. So
(02:27):
as the time goes on and thingsare continued to change, from the new
laws to the old laws, tothe vetteral regulations, it is a moving,
moving area of law. Let meask you this because obviously, with
the pandemic in twenty twenty, thething that I think surprised a lot of
people was how the real estate markethomes just increased in value exponentially in South
(02:55):
Florida. We're here now in Marchtwenty twenty four. What's what a state
of the market in your opinion,now, the market is still booming.
So when it happened in twenty twenty, everyone went in a panic, right,
We would agree that everyone was souncertain of what was going to happen.
But the prices of the homes increased. You had people selling. You
(03:19):
have people unable to make their paymentsso their thing was to sell. You
have people knocking on doors hoping foropportunities to purchase homes. Home prices when
an interest rate was extremely low,so things were still flowing for real estate.
We did closes during the pandemic andthings were still going, still flowing.
Things had changed a little bit,you know, the especially with no
(03:42):
in person, A lot of thingstook place remote. A lot of lenders
who had restrictions against signing remotely allowedit during that time. So we were
able to do a lot of refinancingagain because the interest rate went down so
much, that helped out during thatperiod. Fast forward, the interest rate
is extremely high. Nevertheless, thingsare still moving, meaning that prices are
(04:09):
still extremely high. Inventory is reallylow, so if you're not coming in
with cash at this point, you'rebeing outfitted really fast on the price of
the homes, And you would think, Jeff, that homes going for one
two three million dollars would need financing. But what I've seen over the few
(04:30):
years is that cash buyers have beencoming up paying one two three four million
dollars cash for homes. So it'seasy for a seller to agree to sell
to someone who's coming in for withcash. When you don't have as many
restrictions, you don't have the potentialfor delays dealing with lenders. So cash
(04:53):
has been running our market in thelast few years. Wow, there's there's
a few things I want to pullout of that answer, because that really
was a lot of information there that, you know, people probably don't know.
The first thing I want to askyou about is the technology that was
adopted in the real estate industry becauseof COVID. How much of that is
(05:19):
still here today? It's here,Jeff is going to stay and it's mind
bottling that we were able to operatewithout so much technology before COVID. COVID
forced all of us to enhance toembrace technology. Even my office, we
use remote online notaries and sometimes wehave remote notaries who will mobile notaries that
(05:45):
will go to your site. Beforethose things weren't as popular, but now
those are things that we use withtechnology where that person can go on site
and even set up a video andI can explain to them the entire process,
the documents, why we have arepresentative there. So mobile notary came
into place and forcing us to actuallyuse our technology. Another thing was the
(06:08):
remote notary. Again, that's oneof the things that a lot of lenders
did not allow previously, and somehave restrictions on it now. But for
the most part, that technology isstill here and it's extremely helpful when you're
dealing with so many different people.And again when I said that a lot
of people are purchasing here with cash, they're not actually moving here per se
(06:31):
to use this as their primary Sowe have foreigners all over the world that
are still able to do closings remotelyas a result of technology. Well,
I just remember in the few transactionsI've had personally, the big stack of
papers and having to go to theoffice and sign off and have a wet
signature. And that's not the caseanymore, not at all. It's funny
(06:57):
you say that I realized this weekthat I haven't purchased paper it's so long
because excuse me. Everything is electronic. So even we get signatures, we
get documents, were fouling everything,it's electronic. Even when it comes to
recording documents, we use electronic.You know. Technology is what we use
(07:18):
to record our document It allows usto record documents so much fast and so
much more efficient that it helps andprotect the lenders lean rights. That helped
protect the buyer in the cellar becausedocuments are able to be recorded instantly.
So I can finish my clothesing inone hour and the next hour I have
(07:38):
all my documents recorded. And that'sthe result of technology. Thank goodness.
Yeah, it's you know, look, it was a terrible time, but
that definitely streamlined the industry, notjust in real estate, not just in
law, but in so many differentindustries even outside of law. So it
(07:59):
was a well needed change, saythe leadon, you have to embrace technology.
Yeah, it's going to come whetheryou like it or not. Yeah.
Well, here's something that you know, talking to our audience members,
some people don't they're a little afraidto hire a lawyer. And I kind
(08:22):
of wanted to talk with you aboutwhen the best time to consult with a
lawyer would be when you're contemplating buyingreal estate, whether it be commercial or
residential. Excellent question my opinion,and I'm not being biased when I say
it. As soon as you determinethat you want to purchase a property,
(08:43):
engage in attorney and I'll tell youwhy the contract that you enter into with
anyone is the most important thing thatyou're going to do. Yes, it
is a standard form contract. However, things happen. Things are not written
correctly, things are not attached thingsor not checked. Minor issues can lead
(09:03):
to detrimental results. And I saythat with so much emphasis of that.
We have files where we receive them. After the contract has been signed.
The buyer is not even aware ofmost of the provisions or understand the provisions
that they have agreed to. Youknow, sometimes realators why they have great
(09:24):
intentions. They give them the contractand they trust their realator, which is
great, but they sign it andthey have no understanding of exactly what they
just signed. As opposed to engagingattorney, attorney is able to walk them
through the entire process, from frontto back, the entire contract, make
sure that the buyer's objective is actuallybeing met. If you are purchasing and
(09:46):
you have intent you trying to excuseme eliminature and costs. That's when you
have the opportunity to engage an attorneyfor that purpose, and the attorney can
actually help you to save money.There is certain provisions. If you check
on a contract, you are responsiblefor paying more money. So someone that's
(10:07):
knowledgeable and not looking out for justone interest, which means that I'm not
looking out just for the commission orthe actual sale, but looking out for
your best interest from a legal perspective. So that's why I think it's very
important. I can give you exampleswhere when I'm engaged at the contract I've
been signed, they forgot to attachan adendum, or they forgot to provide
(10:31):
the buyer with the condominium documents.Yet the buyer has signed that they have
received all of those documents. Andthat's very important JET because not receiving condo
or association documents prior to a salethat allows you to cancel the contract.
But if you are signing a documentthe contract saying oh I received everything,
(10:52):
you lost an opportunity in case youdo need to get out, because you
get the declaration or the condo docsdays before the clothes and you realize I
can't rint my property. You didn'tknow this, but you signed off in
the beginning that you receive those documentdocuments that could have told you that.
So I think it's important to engagethe attorney in the beginning. My opinion,
(11:13):
Well, again, I can't disagreebecause you know, even though I'm
not in your field, you knowyou do see things, and litigation can
be a lot more expensive than retainingan attorney in the beginning. Absolutely,
by the time you come to meand we're about to litigate, you already
(11:33):
in a couple hundred or a thousanddollars, because if I have to litigate
something, it's not easy to resolvewhen someone when you, as a buyer
or even as a seller, madea mistake in the beginning, something that
could have been fixed or something thatcould have been caught in the beginning.
You're absolutely right, sure it willbe more expensive once you have to litigate
(11:54):
that issue as a result of somethingthat could have easily been prevented in the
beginning. I mean the expression thecliches pennywise, dollars foolish, it certainly
applies with real estate purchases. That'swhat you're saying yes, and is a
big misconception. I have a realator, so I don't need an attorney.
(12:18):
Unfortunately, a realator does not practicelaw. A realator does not know how
to interpret a contract the way thata real estate lawyer should be able to
interpret a contract. And again,from my perspective, I do litigation,
so I understand what we're trying toprevent. I'm trying to keep you out
of the courtroom. So if I'mallowed to help you in the beginning,
(12:41):
more than likely we're not going tohave to go to court because I can
catch the things, and I canput you in a position from the beginning
to prevent those things in the future. And at the end of the day,
the cost of retaining a real estateattorney is not much in the scheme
of things. Can you explain whyit's not? Okay? So, if
(13:05):
you are buying most real estate attorneysfor me, we do title work.
Here. We also do closings,so as a part of the closing,
one of the things that primarily happensduring the closings is title policy. So
most attorneys when they are doing closingreal estate closing, that's our primary goal
is the title policy. So asa result, you're using an attorney a
(13:28):
law firm as opposed to a titlecompany that's not backed by an attorney.
Then you are getting the benefit ofhaving someone that's licensed as an attorney with
knowledge to actually handle your transaction,so that fee is primarily rolled into the
policy, or they pay a minimuma minimum fee, Jeff, I think
(13:50):
our fee right now ranges from sixninety five eight ninety ninety five just for
representation or preparation of seller documents,which is very inexpensive. Again, you
get the ability to have an attorneyto pull your hand and walk you through
the process for a couple hundred dollarsa couple hundred dollars when you're maybe spending
(14:13):
half a million dollars. Sure,one hundred thousand dollars doesn't sound like much,
not at all. But when itcomes to commercial real estate, which
is one of our cornerstones of thefirm, those prices tend to be more.
But those things are a lot moreriskier for the lender, for the
buyer and seller, So the feesfor attorney fees for those transactions tend to
(14:39):
be a little bit more. Butat the same time, as you state
it, is necessary, especially inthose types of transactions, to have someone
that's knowledgeable about the contract and knowledgeabout the transaction. Of course, what
about when somebody wants to refinance ahome, do they need an attorney for
a week? You? Okay?So anytime you're doing a real estate closing,
(15:05):
and I'm probably one of the fewattorneys that we said say this,
but do you need an attorney anytimethat you have a contract. I say,
you need an attorney unless you're draftingthe contract, right, and even
if you're drafting a contract, ifyou're not licensed, you still need a
real estate attorney to read the contractwith you. That's the same thing I
would tell you if I was notI was trying to settle a personal injury
(15:28):
case, I wouldn't do it myself. I'll come to you, because again
I don't know all the things.I don't know how what should say.
I don't really understand the lingo thatan attorney from that perspective would need to
put in the agreement, as opposedto again, when you're doing a refinance,
you're still dealing with contracts, you'restill dealing with a work, it's
still dealing with new agreements. Soyes, you still need an attorney because
(15:52):
you would be legally bound by anythingthat you actually sign as a part of
that transaction. Well, I knowthat in the past, when I had
done ready, I'd used an attorneyeven though I'm an attorney, because I
don't know what you know exactly,which is again, if I'm not a
surgeon, I'm not going to bedoing surgery. Experts still matter these dates,
(16:22):
contrary to what some of the thingswe see in the media. Well,
let's let me ask let me askyou this, is there a particular
time of the year that it's betterto buy or sell real estate? It's
always a great time to buy,is to real estate? But that was
that was you know, that wasan easy one. But let me ask
(16:45):
it. Do you see anything whereyou see more potential for a buyer or
seller at certain times, or youknow, is there more inventory like when
school ends, things like that.As soon as school and that's when most
people start looking because they are tryingto prepare over the summer. They can
do their moves while the kids areout of school, and they can also
(17:07):
get the kids ready to go toa new school to be enrolled. So
during that time, summertime is alwaysgreat time. You know, South Florida
is always hot, but summertime isalso an opportunity to purchase and to sell
your real estate with ease. Butright now it's really just competitive, like
everything is extremely competitive. I anticipatethe interest rate going down a little bit
(17:30):
more, and I think once theinterest rate go down, we're going to
have a lot of people refinancing asa result of them enter into mortgages during
the higher rates. Kid you notsome closing we did last year twenty twenty
three, interest rate was up tolike twelve percent, and obviously you have
people who are getting into variables atthis point their balloons with the intent I
(17:56):
will refinance in the future, SoI and topate them refinancing as soon as
the rates go down to six percentor five percent. I don't think we're
going to have the two percent orthree percent anytime soon. However, I
do think that once the interest ratedecrease a little, I don't think the
value or the prices of the homeare going to decrease, but I think
(18:19):
people are going to be more inclinedto sell and to buy more real estate.
I want to touch on something thatyou talked about earlier about commercial real
estate because I know that's a partof your practice as well. The interest
rates, I believe are different incommercial and what are the other differences in
(18:41):
a commercial transaction as opposed to aresidential real estate transaction. So the federal
regulations are different too when it comesto real estate residential and commercial. You
know, there are more protection forconsumers when they are purchased at a home
or residential home as opposed to acommercial setting. Commercial they're not deemed as
(19:03):
necessarily vulnerable. Those are tend tobe more sophisticated individual who engage in commercial
property, So the laws are alot more laxed when it comes to lending
and to come to their regulations.So that's one of the primary things.
And I also find that a lotof commercial real estate tend to be negotiated
(19:26):
more so with the brokers directly asopposed to realtors doing it doing the negotiations
for the buyer or seller. Sothe commercial properties, as you can imagine,
has so many other different components toit. It could be the business
purchase that comes along with it.It can be the zoning. Sometimes even
(19:48):
when you're buying or selling it,the zoning come into issue whether or not
you're going to be able to conductyour business. Environmental issues come into play
major environmental issue depending on what youare purchasing. So while the regulations,
the inspection periods and everything else istypically traditional and the residential setting things are
(20:11):
not necessarily traditional when you come tocommercials, so the risks are a lot
more for the buyer seller as wellas the lender. As a result,
they tend to be a lot morecomplex and requires a lot more attention.
Thank you. One thing I didn'task you about, and I'd be remiss
(20:32):
if I didn't, is if anybody'slistening or watching this and they are a
prospective first time home buyer, whattype of programs are there available for them
through financing or through the government oranything like that. So I would tell
them this is my I'm glad youasked me that. So one of the
(20:53):
things I do is sit on thema special magistrate for the city of Lauderdale
Lakes as well, and even withinthat city, I can tell you there
are a variety of programs that theyoffer for first time home buyers, and
they give the opportunity for someone toreceive closing costs and closing costs can be
(21:14):
somewhere twenty thirty thousand dollars sometimes,and they would give a mortgage as a
second mortgage to the property and thatwould allow the person to close and have
this second mortgage on the property.However, that second mortgage can be forgiven
if you stand the property for acertain time period. And this applies to
not just that city, but alot of cities, and people are really
(21:34):
unaware. So I would say fora first time home buyer engaging anytime any
part of the first time home buyerprograms that you are aware of, and
also look into the city or countythat you are intended to buy in and
see what programs they have. You'llbe surprised that there's so much money out
there that people do not tap into. And that actually, Jeff, what
(21:56):
I'm referring to, some cities actuallyhave money allocated for are individual who need
to make repairs to their home.There are grants that you can apply for
that would allow you to make thoserepairs. And even if you are a
first time home buyer, that samecity or county may have a program where
they would give you funds to makerepairs to your home after you purchase it.
(22:17):
So there are a variety of programsout there, but on the city
and county levels. I will tellyou to focus there first before you start
entering too anything outside of it.Selene, I really enjoyed this conversation,
but I want to give you onelast chance to kind of talk about anything
currently in real estate that you thinkthat any of our listeners should know.
(22:41):
Oh, Jeff, this, Ionly have a few minutes because I have
a lot to say about that,but I will say that you know another
one if you want part two.I would say that real estate is going
to be always a hot thing herein Southwarida. Condominiums I believe, I
project that will be one of thosetopics that people are going to see moving
(23:04):
a lot because it's going to beforeclosures, it's going to be sales and
purchases for those condominiums. And Isay that as a result of the laws
that went into play last year,and there's another one going into play in
twenty twenty five that requires certain typeof inspections. As a result, a
lot of associations are required to increasethe reserves to take care of these things,
(23:29):
which means that the assessments and thespecial assessments are being implemented. So
you have people who are living onthe ocean that has purchased these homes years
ago, you know, thirty fortythousand dollars. Fast forward, you know,
the buildings deteriorating and as a result, the laws require them to have
certain inspections, certain type of workto be done. I believe as a
(23:52):
result of those increasing increased assessments andrequirements, those homes are going to be
hotter on market as people are goingto try to get rid of them to
eliminate that potential cost. And Imean it's going to be a major change.
I also anticipate the governor making moremodifications to the laws because there are
(24:14):
a lot of great areas right nowuncertainty. But I do believe the real
estate market will fill every bit ofthose changes as a result of the interest
rate in as a result of thelaws changing for certain inspections. So look
out, if you're trying to buya condominium on the ocean, you may
have an opportunity coming up, andI would definitely be privileged to help you
(24:38):
out navigate you through the process,including making sure that you're aware of all
the restrictions and regulations that come alongwith condominium Jeff. As you know,
I also do condo and homeowners associationlaw as a part of our practice and
so which means I'm very, veryknowledgeable of the dues and don'ts of that
type of world. But I'm alsoknowledge on how you can make a real
(25:00):
estate transaction happen. Selena, Ifanybody watching or listening would like to get
in touch with you, what's thebest way for them to do that.
My website is www dot nash realLaw dot com. But you can also
reach me at my first name,which is Selena C. E. L
E n A at Nashreallaw dot com. We be happy to help you out,
(25:25):
or you can give us a callat nine by four by zero nine
three seven nine three, and that'sthe easiest way to reach me. Well,
I can't thank you enough for yourtime. I always enjoy talking with
you, and thank you again fordoing this. No, Jeff, I
appreciate you giving me the opportunity tospeak to your listeners, and I hope
(25:48):
that if they do have any questions, they feel free to reach out to
me. Sounds great, Well,everyone, this has been us. My
guest is Selena nash real estate attorney. Her website again is www dot Nashreallaw
dot com. I'm your host,Jeff Adelman. If you have any questions
for me, you can call meanytime five six one four one seven fifty
(26:14):
six fifty six, or if youhave any questions about my personal injury practice.
My website is www dot LAWBNI dotcom and my email address is Jeff
at LAWBNI dot com. Till nexttime, everyone be well, and if
you would like to be on theprogram, or if you have any questions,
(26:34):
reach out anytime. Thank you,Thank you, Jeff
Hello, and welcome to another editionof Questions for Lawyers. I'm your host,
board certified civil trial lawyer, JeffAdelman. The purpose of this podcast
is to ask questions as if Iwere the client talking with the attorney for
the first time, trying to getconsumers to ask the questions that they really
(00:28):
need to know when they are consultingwith an attorney. Today, we're very
privileged to have Selena Nash as ourguest, who specializes in real estate law.
And Selena, thank you so muchfor being with us today. Thank
you Jeff for having me. Iappreciate it. Selena, Can you tell
(00:49):
everybody a little bit about yourself.Yes, I am a practicing attorney,
been doing this for the last fifteenyears, this exclusive real estate I also
have my office in Course Springs,Florida. I am a resident of Parkland
and a mom, a mom oftwo little girls, and I am the
(01:17):
owner of the law office of SelenaR. Nash, PA, where we
have been operating in Course Springs forthe last nine years I believe nine years.
Wow. And in that nine years, Selena, there's been just a
few changes here and there. Canyou talk about that for us? The
(01:40):
changes in real estate. There havebeen quite a bit, yeah, just
changes in the market in general inSouth Florida. But South Florida is always
going to be the mecca of realestate. We have a variety. I
mean, our landscape here in Floyda, it is just awesome. It's a
place that people come to start theirlives, people who come to end their
retirement in their careers for retirement.So this is just always a moving thing,
(02:06):
and real estate is one of thosethings here in South Florida that's always
going to be revolving, good andbad. And the last few years,
especially since COVID, things definitely changedfor us, some good, some bad.
But our market is competitive and it'salways going to be competitive. So
(02:27):
as the time goes on and thingsare continued to change, from the new
laws to the old laws, tothe vetteral regulations, it is a moving,
moving area of law. Let meask you this because obviously, with
the pandemic in twenty twenty, thething that I think surprised a lot of
people was how the real estate markethomes just increased in value exponentially in South
(02:55):
Florida. We're here now in Marchtwenty twenty four. What's what a state
of the market in your opinion,now, the market is still booming.
So when it happened in twenty twenty, everyone went in a panic, right,
We would agree that everyone was souncertain of what was going to happen.
But the prices of the homes increased. You had people selling. You
(03:19):
have people unable to make their paymentsso their thing was to sell. You
have people knocking on doors hoping foropportunities to purchase homes. Home prices when
an interest rate was extremely low,so things were still flowing for real estate.
We did closes during the pandemic andthings were still going, still flowing.
Things had changed a little bit,you know, the especially with no
(03:42):
in person, A lot of thingstook place remote. A lot of lenders
who had restrictions against signing remotely allowedit during that time. So we were
able to do a lot of refinancingagain because the interest rate went down so
much, that helped out during thatperiod. Fast forward, the interest rate
is extremely high. Nevertheless, thingsare still moving, meaning that prices are
(04:09):
still extremely high. Inventory is reallylow, so if you're not coming in
with cash at this point, you'rebeing outfitted really fast on the price of
the homes, And you would think, Jeff, that homes going for one
two three million dollars would need financing. But what I've seen over the few
(04:30):
years is that cash buyers have beencoming up paying one two three four million
dollars cash for homes. So it'seasy for a seller to agree to sell
to someone who's coming in for withcash. When you don't have as many
restrictions, you don't have the potentialfor delays dealing with lenders. So cash
(04:53):
has been running our market in thelast few years. Wow, there's there's
a few things I want to pullout of that answer, because that really
was a lot of information there that, you know, people probably don't know.
The first thing I want to askyou about is the technology that was
adopted in the real estate industry becauseof COVID. How much of that is
(05:19):
still here today? It's here,Jeff is going to stay and it's mind
bottling that we were able to operatewithout so much technology before COVID. COVID
forced all of us to enhance toembrace technology. Even my office, we
use remote online notaries and sometimes wehave remote notaries who will mobile notaries that
(05:45):
will go to your site. Beforethose things weren't as popular, but now
those are things that we use withtechnology where that person can go on site
and even set up a video andI can explain to them the entire process,
the documents, why we have arepresentative there. So mobile notary came
into place and forcing us to actuallyuse our technology. Another thing was the
(06:08):
remote notary. Again, that's oneof the things that a lot of lenders
did not allow previously, and somehave restrictions on it now. But for
the most part, that technology isstill here and it's extremely helpful when you're
dealing with so many different people.And again when I said that a lot
of people are purchasing here with cash, they're not actually moving here per se
(06:31):
to use this as their primary Sowe have foreigners all over the world that
are still able to do closings remotelyas a result of technology. Well,
I just remember in the few transactionsI've had personally, the big stack of
papers and having to go to theoffice and sign off and have a wet
signature. And that's not the caseanymore, not at all. It's funny
(06:57):
you say that I realized this weekthat I haven't purchased paper it's so long
because excuse me. Everything is electronic. So even we get signatures, we
get documents, were fouling everything,it's electronic. Even when it comes to
recording documents, we use electronic.You know. Technology is what we use
(07:18):
to record our document It allows usto record documents so much fast and so
much more efficient that it helps andprotect the lenders lean rights. That helped
protect the buyer in the cellar becausedocuments are able to be recorded instantly.
So I can finish my clothesing inone hour and the next hour I have
(07:38):
all my documents recorded. And that'sthe result of technology. Thank goodness.
Yeah, it's you know, look, it was a terrible time, but
that definitely streamlined the industry, notjust in real estate, not just in
law, but in so many differentindustries even outside of law. So it
(07:59):
was a well needed change, saythe leadon, you have to embrace technology.
Yeah, it's going to come whetheryou like it or not. Yeah.
Well, here's something that you know, talking to our audience members,
some people don't they're a little afraidto hire a lawyer. And I kind
(08:22):
of wanted to talk with you aboutwhen the best time to consult with a
lawyer would be when you're contemplating buyingreal estate, whether it be commercial or
residential. Excellent question my opinion,and I'm not being biased when I say
it. As soon as you determinethat you want to purchase a property,
(08:43):
engage in attorney and I'll tell youwhy the contract that you enter into with
anyone is the most important thing thatyou're going to do. Yes, it
is a standard form contract. However, things happen. Things are not written
correctly, things are not attached thingsor not checked. Minor issues can lead
(09:03):
to detrimental results. And I saythat with so much emphasis of that.
We have files where we receive them. After the contract has been signed.
The buyer is not even aware ofmost of the provisions or understand the provisions
that they have agreed to. Youknow, sometimes realators why they have great
(09:24):
intentions. They give them the contractand they trust their realator, which is
great, but they sign it andthey have no understanding of exactly what they
just signed. As opposed to engagingattorney, attorney is able to walk them
through the entire process, from frontto back, the entire contract, make
sure that the buyer's objective is actuallybeing met. If you are purchasing and
(09:46):
you have intent you trying to excuseme eliminature and costs. That's when you
have the opportunity to engage an attorneyfor that purpose, and the attorney can
actually help you to save money.There is certain provisions. If you check
on a contract, you are responsiblefor paying more money. So someone that's
(10:07):
knowledgeable and not looking out for justone interest, which means that I'm not
looking out just for the commission orthe actual sale, but looking out for
your best interest from a legal perspective. So that's why I think it's very
important. I can give you exampleswhere when I'm engaged at the contract I've
been signed, they forgot to attachan adendum, or they forgot to provide
(10:31):
the buyer with the condominium documents.Yet the buyer has signed that they have
received all of those documents. Andthat's very important JET because not receiving condo
or association documents prior to a salethat allows you to cancel the contract.
But if you are signing a documentthe contract saying oh I received everything,
(10:52):
you lost an opportunity in case youdo need to get out, because you
get the declaration or the condo docsdays before the clothes and you realize I
can't rint my property. You didn'tknow this, but you signed off in
the beginning that you receive those documentdocuments that could have told you that.
So I think it's important to engagethe attorney in the beginning. My opinion,
(11:13):
Well, again, I can't disagreebecause you know, even though I'm
not in your field, you knowyou do see things, and litigation can
be a lot more expensive than retainingan attorney in the beginning. Absolutely,
by the time you come to meand we're about to litigate, you already
(11:33):
in a couple hundred or a thousanddollars, because if I have to litigate
something, it's not easy to resolvewhen someone when you, as a buyer
or even as a seller, madea mistake in the beginning, something that
could have been fixed or something thatcould have been caught in the beginning.
You're absolutely right, sure it willbe more expensive once you have to litigate
(11:54):
that issue as a result of somethingthat could have easily been prevented in the
beginning. I mean the expression thecliches pennywise, dollars foolish, it certainly
applies with real estate purchases. That'swhat you're saying yes, and is a
big misconception. I have a realator, so I don't need an attorney.
(12:18):
Unfortunately, a realator does not practicelaw. A realator does not know how
to interpret a contract the way thata real estate lawyer should be able to
interpret a contract. And again,from my perspective, I do litigation,
so I understand what we're trying toprevent. I'm trying to keep you out
of the courtroom. So if I'mallowed to help you in the beginning,
(12:41):
more than likely we're not going tohave to go to court because I can
catch the things, and I canput you in a position from the beginning
to prevent those things in the future. And at the end of the day,
the cost of retaining a real estateattorney is not much in the scheme
of things. Can you explain whyit's not? Okay? So, if
(13:05):
you are buying most real estate attorneysfor me, we do title work.
Here. We also do closings,so as a part of the closing,
one of the things that primarily happensduring the closings is title policy. So
most attorneys when they are doing closingreal estate closing, that's our primary goal
is the title policy. So asa result, you're using an attorney a
(13:28):
law firm as opposed to a titlecompany that's not backed by an attorney.
Then you are getting the benefit ofhaving someone that's licensed as an attorney with
knowledge to actually handle your transaction,so that fee is primarily rolled into the
policy, or they pay a minimuma minimum fee, Jeff, I think
(13:50):
our fee right now ranges from sixninety five eight ninety ninety five just for
representation or preparation of seller documents,which is very inexpensive. Again, you
get the ability to have an attorneyto pull your hand and walk you through
the process for a couple hundred dollarsa couple hundred dollars when you're maybe spending
(14:13):
half a million dollars. Sure,one hundred thousand dollars doesn't sound like much,
not at all. But when itcomes to commercial real estate, which
is one of our cornerstones of thefirm, those prices tend to be more.
But those things are a lot moreriskier for the lender, for the
buyer and seller, So the feesfor attorney fees for those transactions tend to
(14:39):
be a little bit more. Butat the same time, as you state
it, is necessary, especially inthose types of transactions, to have someone
that's knowledgeable about the contract and knowledgeabout the transaction. Of course, what
about when somebody wants to refinance ahome, do they need an attorney for
a week? You? Okay?So anytime you're doing a real estate closing,
(15:05):
and I'm probably one of the fewattorneys that we said say this,
but do you need an attorney anytimethat you have a contract. I say,
you need an attorney unless you're draftingthe contract, right, and even
if you're drafting a contract, ifyou're not licensed, you still need a
real estate attorney to read the contractwith you. That's the same thing I
would tell you if I was notI was trying to settle a personal injury
(15:28):
case, I wouldn't do it myself. I'll come to you, because again
I don't know all the things.I don't know how what should say.
I don't really understand the lingo thatan attorney from that perspective would need to
put in the agreement, as opposedto again, when you're doing a refinance,
you're still dealing with contracts, you'restill dealing with a work, it's
still dealing with new agreements. Soyes, you still need an attorney because
(15:52):
you would be legally bound by anythingthat you actually sign as a part of
that transaction. Well, I knowthat in the past, when I had
done ready, I'd used an attorneyeven though I'm an attorney, because I
don't know what you know exactly,which is again, if I'm not a
surgeon, I'm not going to bedoing surgery. Experts still matter these dates,
(16:22):
contrary to what some of the thingswe see in the media. Well,
let's let me ask let me askyou this, is there a particular
time of the year that it's betterto buy or sell real estate? It's
always a great time to buy,is to real estate? But that was
that was you know, that wasan easy one. But let me ask
(16:45):
it. Do you see anything whereyou see more potential for a buyer or
seller at certain times, or youknow, is there more inventory like when
school ends, things like that.As soon as school and that's when most
people start looking because they are tryingto prepare over the summer. They can
do their moves while the kids areout of school, and they can also
(17:07):
get the kids ready to go toa new school to be enrolled. So
during that time, summertime is alwaysgreat time. You know, South Florida
is always hot, but summertime isalso an opportunity to purchase and to sell
your real estate with ease. Butright now it's really just competitive, like
everything is extremely competitive. I anticipatethe interest rate going down a little bit
(17:30):
more, and I think once theinterest rate go down, we're going to
have a lot of people refinancing asa result of them enter into mortgages during
the higher rates. Kid you notsome closing we did last year twenty twenty
three, interest rate was up tolike twelve percent, and obviously you have
people who are getting into variables atthis point their balloons with the intent I
(17:56):
will refinance in the future, SoI and topate them refinancing as soon as
the rates go down to six percentor five percent. I don't think we're
going to have the two percent orthree percent anytime soon. However, I
do think that once the interest ratedecrease a little, I don't think the
value or the prices of the homeare going to decrease, but I think
(18:19):
people are going to be more inclinedto sell and to buy more real estate.
I want to touch on something thatyou talked about earlier about commercial real
estate because I know that's a partof your practice as well. The interest
rates, I believe are different incommercial and what are the other differences in
(18:41):
a commercial transaction as opposed to aresidential real estate transaction. So the federal
regulations are different too when it comesto real estate residential and commercial. You
know, there are more protection forconsumers when they are purchased at a home
or residential home as opposed to acommercial setting. Commercial they're not deemed as
(19:03):
necessarily vulnerable. Those are tend tobe more sophisticated individual who engage in commercial
property, So the laws are alot more laxed when it comes to lending
and to come to their regulations.So that's one of the primary things.
And I also find that a lotof commercial real estate tend to be negotiated
(19:26):
more so with the brokers directly asopposed to realtors doing it doing the negotiations
for the buyer or seller. Sothe commercial properties, as you can imagine,
has so many other different components toit. It could be the business
purchase that comes along with it.It can be the zoning. Sometimes even
(19:48):
when you're buying or selling it,the zoning come into issue whether or not
you're going to be able to conductyour business. Environmental issues come into play
major environmental issue depending on what youare purchasing. So while the regulations,
the inspection periods and everything else istypically traditional and the residential setting things are
(20:11):
not necessarily traditional when you come tocommercials, so the risks are a lot
more for the buyer seller as wellas the lender. As a result,
they tend to be a lot morecomplex and requires a lot more attention.
Thank you. One thing I didn'task you about, and I'd be remiss
(20:32):
if I didn't, is if anybody'slistening or watching this and they are a
prospective first time home buyer, whattype of programs are there available for them
through financing or through the government oranything like that. So I would tell
them this is my I'm glad youasked me that. So one of the
(20:53):
things I do is sit on thema special magistrate for the city of Lauderdale
Lakes as well, and even withinthat city, I can tell you there
are a variety of programs that theyoffer for first time home buyers, and
they give the opportunity for someone toreceive closing costs and closing costs can be
(21:14):
somewhere twenty thirty thousand dollars sometimes,and they would give a mortgage as a
second mortgage to the property and thatwould allow the person to close and have
this second mortgage on the property.However, that second mortgage can be forgiven
if you stand the property for acertain time period. And this applies to
not just that city, but alot of cities, and people are really
(21:34):
unaware. So I would say fora first time home buyer engaging anytime any
part of the first time home buyerprograms that you are aware of, and
also look into the city or countythat you are intended to buy in and
see what programs they have. You'llbe surprised that there's so much money out
there that people do not tap into. And that actually, Jeff, what
(21:56):
I'm referring to, some cities actuallyhave money allocated for are individual who need
to make repairs to their home.There are grants that you can apply for
that would allow you to make thoserepairs. And even if you are a
first time home buyer, that samecity or county may have a program where
they would give you funds to makerepairs to your home after you purchase it.
(22:17):
So there are a variety of programsout there, but on the city
and county levels. I will tellyou to focus there first before you start
entering too anything outside of it.Selene, I really enjoyed this conversation,
but I want to give you onelast chance to kind of talk about anything
currently in real estate that you thinkthat any of our listeners should know.
(22:41):
Oh, Jeff, this, Ionly have a few minutes because I have
a lot to say about that,but I will say that you know another
one if you want part two.I would say that real estate is going
to be always a hot thing herein Southwarida. Condominiums I believe, I
project that will be one of thosetopics that people are going to see moving
(23:04):
a lot because it's going to beforeclosures, it's going to be sales and
purchases for those condominiums. And Isay that as a result of the laws
that went into play last year,and there's another one going into play in
twenty twenty five that requires certain typeof inspections. As a result, a
lot of associations are required to increasethe reserves to take care of these things,
(23:29):
which means that the assessments and thespecial assessments are being implemented. So
you have people who are living onthe ocean that has purchased these homes years
ago, you know, thirty fortythousand dollars. Fast forward, you know,
the buildings deteriorating and as a result, the laws require them to have
certain inspections, certain type of workto be done. I believe as a
(23:52):
result of those increasing increased assessments andrequirements, those homes are going to be
hotter on market as people are goingto try to get rid of them to
eliminate that potential cost. And Imean it's going to be a major change.
I also anticipate the governor making moremodifications to the laws because there are
(24:14):
a lot of great areas right nowuncertainty. But I do believe the real
estate market will fill every bit ofthose changes as a result of the interest
rate in as a result of thelaws changing for certain inspections. So look
out, if you're trying to buya condominium on the ocean, you may
have an opportunity coming up, andI would definitely be privileged to help you
(24:38):
out navigate you through the process,including making sure that you're aware of all
the restrictions and regulations that come alongwith condominium Jeff. As you know,
I also do condo and homeowners associationlaw as a part of our practice and
so which means I'm very, veryknowledgeable of the dues and don'ts of that
type of world. But I'm alsoknowledge on how you can make a real
(25:00):
estate transaction happen. Selena, Ifanybody watching or listening would like to get
in touch with you, what's thebest way for them to do that.
My website is www dot nash realLaw dot com. But you can also
reach me at my first name,which is Selena C. E. L
E n A at Nashreallaw dot com. We be happy to help you out,
(25:25):
or you can give us a callat nine by four by zero nine
three seven nine three, and that'sthe easiest way to reach me. Well,
I can't thank you enough for yourtime. I always enjoy talking with
you, and thank you again fordoing this. No, Jeff, I
appreciate you giving me the opportunity tospeak to your listeners, and I hope
(25:48):
that if they do have any questions, they feel free to reach out to
me. Sounds great, Well,everyone, this has been us. My
guest is Selena nash real estate attorney. Her website again is www dot Nashreallaw
dot com. I'm your host,Jeff Adelman. If you have any questions
for me, you can call meanytime five six one four one seven fifty
(26:14):
six fifty six, or if youhave any questions about my personal injury practice.
My website is www dot LAWBNI dotcom and my email address is Jeff
at LAWBNI dot com. Till nexttime, everyone be well, and if
you would like to be on theprogram, or if you have any questions,
(26:34):
reach out anytime. Thank you,Thank you, Jeff
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