Blog
How Do Mortgage Satisfactions Work in Florida?
So you borrowed money, whether it was from a mortgage bank lender or a private individual, on a property in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, or anywhere in Florida. And now, you’ve finally made the last mortgage payment! That's awesome! But before you break out the champagne, ...
What Are the Rights & Responsibilities of a Landlord?
A landlord owns property that is rented or leased to someone else - the 'tenant' or 'lessee.' Both responsibilities and rights for landlords are defined by law - usually state and local codes in the US. Responsibilities for landlords may cover property, contract, an...
How Homeowners Should Prepare for an Appraisal
It’s not often that you have an appraisal done on your home, especially if you haven’t been in a position to sell houses multiple times. One of the first things you may think is, “What do I need to get ready for this?” Here are some helpful tips you can use to p...
Beware of Title Agents with a Suspended License
In a previous blog post, we discussed an incident where a title agent was operating with an expired license. Which, on a good day, could be chalked up to negligence—not necessarily ...
What Is Litigation?
In US law, one party can bring a lawsuit against another party in court. In civil cases, the party bringing the suit—called the plaintiff—generally claims to have incurred loss through actions of the other party—the defendant. In criminal cases, the state—wh...
FSBO Safeguards Provided by Title Companies
Choosing the right real estate title agency makes all the difference if you’re selling your Fort Myers or Cape Coral property without the help of a real estate agent. An experienced and professional title agency will give you a smooth and hassle-free for sale by owner...
Selling Features Agents Forget to Mention
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an agent is not mentioning all the “selling features” of the property you are listing. When you post the listing description online or print marketing material, you want to make sure you are referring to all of the focal s...
1099-S: The Tax Form Your Title Company Files For You
Taxes are never a fun subject to talk about, since they’re often unnecessarily complicated and generally end with you having less money in your pocket. To add to the complexity of filing taxes, the IRS requires that you report not only your standard income, but also c...
The Basics of Intellectual Property
To understand patents, trademarks and copyright—the main forms of intellectual property—let's compare them to board games. Imagine a game rule that says, you can make up a new rule. If the banker allows the rule, you get exclusive use it for 20 turns. If others ...
Stay on Top of These 4 Home Maintenance Items
It doesn’t matter whether you’re going to sell your house in the near future or down the road—it’s wise to keep up with the maintenance of your home. If you don’t properly maintain your home it can affect the property's value...not to mention potentially be da...