The closing blog
Plain-English explanations of the issues that come up at Florida closings.
Condo Association Approval and Your Florida Closing Date
When a condominium association must approve the buyer, the approval can control the timeline. How the Condominium Rider handles approval, what the association may charge, and how to keep the closing on track.
ArticleInspection Found Major Repairs Under an AS IS Contract: Your Options
An AS IS contract doesn't mean the buyer has no options. How the inspection period works, what the seller must disclose, and how buyers and sellers usually handle a big repair estimate.
ArticleWhen the Seller Won't Close: A Florida Buyer's Remedies
What a buyer can do when a seller backs out of a Florida real estate contract: deposit refund, damages, specific performance, lis pendens, and the steps that come first.
ArticleWhen a Buyer Defaults: The Deposit as Liquidated Damages in Florida
What happens to the escrow deposit when a buyer fails to close, how Florida courts treat deposit forfeiture clauses, and why the seller's choice of remedies matters.
ArticleEscrow Deposit Disputes in Florida: What Happens When Both Sides Demand the Money
Who holds the deposit, what the escrow agent must do when buyer and seller both claim it, the FREC procedures for brokers, and how disputes usually end.
ArticleWhen the Seller Can't Cure Title: Objections, Cure Periods and Your Options
How title objections work under the Florida AS IS contract: the 5-day objection window, the 30-day cure period, extensions up to 120 days, and what happens if the defect can't be fixed.
Article"We Can't Close": Anticipatory Repudiation in Florida Real Estate Contracts
What happens when a buyer or seller says before the closing date that they won't or can't close. When a statement is a repudiation, how to respond, and what the other side must still prove.
ArticleCancelling a Florida Real Estate Contract: A Release and Deposit Checklist
How to end a Florida purchase contract cleanly: confirm the termination right, give proper notice, sign a release that matches the deal, and get the deposit disbursed.
ArticleConditional Loan Approval vs. Loan Approval: Protecting the Deposit Under the Financing Contingency
Why a lender's conditional approval may not end your financing contingency, how the FR/BAR Loan Approval Period works, and what notices buyers must give before it expires.
ArticleExtending the Loan Approval Period Doesn't Move the Closing Date (and Other Amendment Traps)
Why contract amendments should say exactly which dates change, how a narrow extension can leave other deadlines running, and why a seller's unrelated code lien can still hold up closing.
ArticleHow to Count Deadlines in a Florida Real Estate Contract
Calendar days, the Effective Date, weekends and holidays, and the business-day exceptions in Florida condo law. A practical guide to counting FR/BAR contract deadlines correctly.
ArticleLetting a Buyer's Contractors In Before Closing: Access, Liens and Risk
Why work by a buyer's contractor before closing creates lien, insurance and title problems, what the FR/BAR contract allows, and safer ways to get quotes and plans done early.
ArticleWhen Not to Raise a Title Objection: Reading Exceptions Strategically
Not every item in a title commitment is a defect. Which exceptions the FR/BAR contract already permits, which requirements the seller must satisfy anyway, and when an objection actually helps.
ArticleA Judgment Against the Condo Association: What It Means for a Unit Sale
When a condominium association has a recorded judgment or lien against it, how Florida law limits liens on the condominium as a whole, unit owners' share of association liability, and what buyers should ask.
ArticleSeller Behind on Condo Dues: Estoppels, Collection Attorneys and Master Associations
What happens at closing when the seller owes condo assessments: buyer liability under 718.116, estoppels on accounts in collection, higher fees, multiple associations and prorations.
ArticleEscrow Holdbacks at a Florida Closing: When They Work and How to Write Them
When part of the seller's proceeds is held back after closing for repairs, casualty, FIRPTA or other unfinished items, what the FR/BAR contract already provides, and what a holdback agreement should say.
ArticleChanging the Buyer: Assignment, Adding a Spouse, or Closing in an LLC
How assignability works in the FR/BAR contract, why changing the name on title late causes problems with the lender and title insurer, and the new federal reporting for cash purchases by entities.
ArticleFederal Tax Lien on the Seller: Payoff, Release and Discharge at a Florida Closing
How an IRS lien attaches to a seller's Florida property, where it's recorded, how to get a payoff and release, and when a certificate of discharge is the right tool.
ArticleSelling Florida Real Estate After an Owner Dies: Who Signs and What Title Needs
How title to a deceased owner's Florida property passes, when probate or a court order is required, how the 2-year creditor rule and homestead affect a sale, and what to gather before listing.
ArticleClosing Remotely in Florida: Online Notarization, Remote Witnesses and E-Signatures
How Florida's remote online notarization law works for deeds and closing documents, the identity checks it requires, rules for remote witnesses, and practical tips for out-of-town buyers and sellers.
ArticleSurveys, Right-of-Way Encroachments and Elevation Certificates in Florida Closings
What a boundary survey shows, deadlines for survey objections under the FR/BAR contract, why fences and driveways in the public right-of-way come up, and how elevation certificates fit in.
ArticleSquare Footage Doesn't Match: What Florida Buyers and Agents Should Know
Why listing, appraisal and property appraiser square footage often differ, what the FR/BAR contract says about verifying it, and what duties sellers and licensees have.
ArticleSeller Can't Move Out by Closing: Possession, Walk-Throughs and Post-Closing Occupancy
What the FR/BAR contract requires about possession, how the walk-through protects the buyer, when a post-closing occupancy agreement makes sense, and what happens if a seller stays without one.
ArticleSelling Florida Property Owned by a Foreign Company: Authority, Documents and FIRPTA
When the seller is an offshore company, such as a British Virgin Islands entity, what title insurers usually need to confirm it exists and who can sign, how documents signed abroad are handled, and why FIRPTA withholding usually applies.
ArticleFIRPTA With a Single-Member LLC Seller, and the Seller-Financing Cash Shortfall
Who certifies non-foreign status when the seller is a disregarded LLC, why withholding is based on the whole price even when the seller finances, and how Standard V handles a shortfall.
ArticleFlorida Documentary Stamp Tax on Deeds and Mortgages: A Plain-English Guide
How Florida doc stamps on deeds, notes and mortgages are calculated, the Miami-Dade rates and surtax, intangible tax, and worked examples.
ArticleOwner's vs. Lender's Title Insurance in Florida: What Each Policy Covers
The lender's policy protects the bank, not you. How owner's and lender's policies differ, how long they last, and how Florida sets premiums.
ArticleHow to Read a Florida Title Commitment (Schedule A, B-I and B-II)
A walk through the parts of an ALTA title commitment: Schedule A, the Requirements in Schedule B-I, the Exceptions in Schedule B-II, and what to ask about.
ArticleOpen and Expired Permits in Florida Closings: What Buyers and Sellers Should Know
Why open permits matter, how to search them in Miami-Dade and Broward, and what Florida law says about closing a permit pulled by a prior owner.
ArticleFlorida Condo Estoppel Certificates (Section 718.116): Deadlines, Fees and Protections
What a condominium association estoppel certificate is, the 10-business-day deadline, statutory fee caps, effective periods, and why buyers rely on it.
ArticleFlorida HOA Estoppel Certificates (Section 720.30851): A Closing Guide
How HOA estoppel certificates work in Florida: who can request one, the 10-business-day deadline, fee caps, effective periods and buyer protections.
ArticleFIRPTA Withholding When a Foreign Person Sells Florida Real Estate
How the federal FIRPTA withholding works at a Florida closing: the 15% rate, the reduced rate and exemptions for residences, seller certifications, and withholding certificates.
ArticleReal Estate Wire Fraud: How to Protect Your Closing Funds
Wire fraud targets home buyers with fake wiring instructions. The CFPB's protection steps, red flags, and what to do immediately if you wired to a scammer.
ArticleWhy Your Spouse May Need to Sign: Florida Homestead and Spouse Joinder
Florida's Constitution restricts selling or mortgaging homestead without the spouse's joinder, even if only one spouse is on title. What that means at closing.
ArticleSelling Florida Real Estate From an LLC: Proving Who Can Sign
When an LLC sells or mortgages Florida property, title insurers need proof of who has authority. Member-managed vs. manager-managed rules and statements of authority.
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