TC Blog
Posts are general in nature and do not contain legal advice.
Calendaring the Real Estate Transaction
When buying a home, negotiating generous timeframes during the transaction calendar is perhaps the best thing a real estate agent can do to help their Buyer avoid overpaying for the property. Limitations to the use, enjoyment, and value of a property take time to...
Dual Agency and the Real Estate Agent
When buying a home, many Buyers’ agents are treated like members of the family: they’re trusted implicitly. Many, perhaps most, do the right thing deal after deal. However, when it comes to real estate agents, caution is the watchword. Dual Agency is a circumstance...
White Hats Versus Black Hats
When buying a home, many Buyer's agents are treated as members of the family: they're trusted implicitly. Many, perhaps most, do the right thing deal after deal. However, caution is the watchword when it comes to real estate agents. The real estate community divides...
Chain of Title and Timely Contract®
Title insurance companies insure against chain of title defects. The legal integrity of a parcel’s chain of title (the passing of an ownership interest in a parcel) is insured when title insurance is purchased. Chain of title problems arise when one party to a...
How Much Due Diligence is Enough?
Many real estate dreams go down in flames as the result of a lack of due diligence. You’ve heard the horror stories and are aware of the risks. If you’re still determined to buy and develop land, it’s fair to ask, How much legal due diligence is enough? Considerations...
Attorneys and Timely Contract®
As an experienced real estate attorney, you may never imagine that the residential real estate market would ever be an attractive practice area. The first two strikes against the practice area are aggressive time frames and unrealistic client expectations. The third...
Real Estate Agents and Timely Contract®
Timely Contract® for Legal Risk Mitigation As an experienced real estate agent, you may never imagine that an attorney could be useful to your practice: attorneys take too long, address issues no one cares about, and jeopardize the transaction. Attorneys carry...
Real Estate Transaction Fees: Important Court Decision
Real Estate Transaction Fees: An Upending Verdict A guilty verdict was handed down by a federal jury on October 31, 2023 that threatens to upend the cozy financial relationships enjoyed by agents representing Buyers and Sellers during the real estate transaction. In...
Pre-Existing Code Violations and TIER Plus®
You’ve done your legal due diligence and checked the public document record at the County Recorder’s Office where you’re thinking of buying that vacation home. You found some interesting circumstances of the property you didn’t expect, including existing code...
Historic District Designation and TIER Plus®
Are you thinking of buying a centrally located, older home in a downtown neighborhood? After many remodels, you may know how to bring the building up-to-code and sell at a profit. Or perhaps you’re a hobbyist with intentions to live the downtown, walkable lifestyle....
Pennies on the Dollar
Buying a home is a time of change, hope, and stress. Change because your living habits are being upended, hope for a better future, and stress because you’re involved in one of the biggest, most complex financial transactions of your life. One way to reduce the stress...
Buying Unimproved Land
You’ve toiled for years, sold the family home, and are on the hunt for land to build that dream home. The risks to buying unimproved land are seldom appreciated by the uninitiated. Power, water, drainage, septic, and land use rights and restrictions all come into...