Monthly Archives: August 2013

Too often buyers are under the impression in a residential real estate contract that if they have a loan commitment, they are in pretty good shape to close. While for the most part that is true, there have been several instances of late that have shown just because a buyer has a loan commitment, does… Read more »

Whether you are a landlord or a tenant, you have probably heard of Landlord Tenant Court. You probably even know someone who has been to court on a landlord tenant matter. Since New Jersey has such a large amount of rental units, including residential housing and commercial space, the Landlord Tenant Court is a very… Read more »

In the state of New Jersey realtors have the ability to take a commission on a property they are purchasing provided that they disclose in the contract of sale that they are a realtor and the realtor of record for the purchaser (i.e., themselves). Nonetheless, even if all parties understand this to be the case… Read more »

In the midst of this presidential campaign season, a lot of people have asked how the latest round of quantitative easing (also known as “QE3”) will impact real estate market, particularly short-sales. Without getting into a complex definition as to what QE3 means, for the short-sale seller, the impact of the QE3 is that mortgage… Read more »

One of the most important as well as cumbersome factors in any short-sale is document gathering. While it is true that a few institutional lienholders have created no document short-sale programs (e.g., consensual short sale), the majority of institutional lienholders require a significant amount of documentation from the borrower (aka seller). This is due in… Read more »

As a New Jersey real estate lawyer, I do lots of closings. It’s a big part of our business. Often times when we represent sellers and ask them for the documents from when they purchased the property we hear, “I have no idea where they are” or “I threw them out”. Not only is this… Read more »

Many times we will receive calls from people who found our name on either the internet or through a referral and the first thing they ask is, “What do you charge for a closing?” As a consumer I can somewhat sympathize that buying a home is an expensive proposition, where money can be somewhat tight… Read more »

Too often when people look to purchase a property they focus on the purchase price, and (if it is not an all cash deal) on the interest rate of their loan. However, often times a prospective purchaser will overlook the property’s real estate taxes. This is a mistake especially in New Jersey, where the real… Read more »

As a New Jersey real estate attorney, I talk to many realtors as well as some fellow real estate attorneys about the market. There has been a lot of discussion on how the market has changed significantly in the past five (5) years. Our discussion was not focused on the reduction in property values or… Read more »

One of the goals of a seller in a short-sale, as well as the seller’s attorney, is to have any outstanding debt forgiven as part of the transaction. The rational is that the seller is already losing any money it had in the property as a result of the short-sale, that last thing it wants… Read more »