Riddell Law Group Blog

What is a 1031 Exchange? Individuals and companies who sell appreciated property (real estate or personal property) are subject to capital gains tax under the Internal Revenue Code. Under IRS’s 1031 Exchange rules, however, an exchange is not considered to be a sale...

What is an owner to do with that vacation property when they stop vacationing there?  What sustains an investment in an apartment building or multi-family housing?  What seems to be the most common real estate activity where people still struggle?  The answer to all 3...

Great news for October 2013….sales of single family homes are up and so is the median price of single family homes as compared to this same time last year!The results tell us that more Buyers may be entering the real estate market due to increased concern that...

On November 20, 2013 our world as Real Estate professionals, Title Agents and Mortgage Brokers understood it completely changed….The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau or (CFPB) published over 1,000 pages which constitute the final rule relative to certain disclosures...

A quick recap from Attorney Cynthia Riddell’s presentation at the Sarasota Association of Realtors Smart Lunch Seminar on Wednesday this week.To download the above presentation materials simply click on the links below Doc 1: CFPB Comparison Chart of Ability To Repay...

Continued from Part 12)      Not Having (and Keeping) a Written Lease in PlaceThis one seems like a no-brainer, but there is a lot more to avoiding this pitfall than meets the eye.  Every landlord should execute a written lease with their tenant before the tenant...

Do you know that we offer buyer and seller representation in those closing situations where the other party has selected the closing/title agent? For a reasonable fixed fee, we represent the buyer or seller throughout the sale transaction, including contract review,...

We’ve been doing a lot of seller representation in recent months. For those of you who haven’t utilized this service, the premise is simple: for a flat fee, we represent your sellers during their sale transaction, which includes attending the closing,...

Ad-Valorem vs. Non Ad-Valorem Taxes. Although Sarasota County residents receive one tax bill, it covers ad valorem and non-ad valorem taxes. Ad-valorem taxes, simply put, are for the dirt. Non ad-valorem taxes are for services, like garbage collection, storm water,...

Post-closing escrow hold backs are a potential minefield for everyone involved and should be avoided whenever possible. Even the most finely crafted escrow agreement might not cover all the contingencies the parties anticipated, and the collective memory is short. So,...