Orange County Business Lawyer talks about Real Estate

There are times when we all need a little refresher and for those new folks out there, this review may be helpful.

Real estate includes all “real property”, i.e. land and buildings, as opposed to “personal property” (things like cars and furniture) and “intangible property” (things like patents trademarks and copyrights.) The business of real estate is governed by numerous laws and regulations. There are many special rules that apply to real estate contracts. Many times, real estate contracts are written by real estate agents or brokers, and they leave out important terms or use vague language which makes these contracts subject to many different interpretations and might render them unenforceable altogether. Especially in Orange County I have seen this time and time again, if you're going to be buying property in Orange County, get an Orange County Business Lawyer to at least review the contracts to make sure you're not being taken advantage of.

The thing you have to be careful of is there are a lot of great people out there using older contracts that do not adequately protect the buyer or the seller. These contracts should be reviewed from time to time to ensure that everyone involved in the transaction is protected. We all know that repeat business is built on trust and follow through, if the contract is older and not protecting your client, then the odds are very good that they aren't coming back to you. While retaining an Orange County Business Lawyer for your Orange County transactions may cost you a little bit up front, it will save you thousands of dollars in potentially lost revenue due to lack of repeat business. The last thing you or your client needs is to face writs of attachment due to a badly written contract. Especially in California you also have to pay special attention the CC and Rs, or Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions.

In California, we find wide spread use of so-called master planned communities, which are governed by written documents called “covenants, conditions and restrictions” (“CC&R’s”). These are the governing documents that dictate how a homeowners or other ownership association operates and what rules the owners -- and their tenants and guests -- must obey. These legal documents might also be called the bylaws, the master deed, or another name. These documents and rules are generally legally enforceable by the homeowners’ association, and the individual property owners unless a specific provision conflicts with federal, state or local laws. CC&Rs are usually written by lawyers hired by the property developer, and then recorded against the property by the developer to control the nature and character of a property development for the benefit of current and future owners. For example, a covenant or condition may require a property owner to maintain the property according to aesthetic guidelines, such as how high you can build fences or what colors you can paint your house. Disagreements often arise from items within a covenant, condition or restriction, usually due to poor drafting by the developer’s lawyer, who is out to protect the developer, not the future property owners. If you're in Orange County, make sure you have a good Orange County Business Lawyer to review your contract before you sign.

I hope this helps and that you are having a wonderful day.

Thanks for reading.