Be Informed.

Whether you are in the market for your first home or you are planning to purchase your 20th property, it always makes sense to try to get the “most bang for your buck.” Purchasing property from a sheriff’s sale often offers just that.  However, there are also risks involved when bidding on property at a sheriff’s sale.

Real estate can be an extremely profitable investment. It can also be an extremely volatile and risky investment.  Along with getting sound advice from your attorney, financial advisor, and real estate professional before investing in real property, there are also some practical considerations that should be taken into account before investing in real estate

The old adage “nothing in life is certain but death and taxes” has been around a long time for a reason. In the United States, most taxpayers dread preparing their state and federal taxes each year out of fear that they will owe a small fortune. Understandably, those same taxpayers are always looking for ways to decrease their taxable income and/or apply credits to the amount of taxes owed. If you own certain types of assets, you may wonder “Can I accelerate depreciation and amortization?” in an effort to reduce your tax liability. 

If you are planning to purchase real property in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania you will most likely purchase title insurance as part of the purchase process. If this is the first time you have purchased a home you may realize you need title insurance but you may not know exactly why you need it nor understand what title insurance covers and what it does not cover. For example, does title insurance cover zoning issues?

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, like most states, the seller of residential property is required by law to make certain mandatory disclosures to a buyer. If a seller fails to disclose defects that should have been disclosed the seller could end up being held liable for the cost of the repairs as well as other consequential damages related to the failure to disclose. Whether you are a seller or a buyer, you need to know the answer to the question “What does a property seller need to disclose in Pennsylvania?”

If you own real property in Pennsylvania, you will likely owe property tax on the property every year. The amount of your property tax obligation each year will depend on the assessed value of the property. If you have recently received a property tax assessment and/or bill that reflects a value for your property with which you do not agree, you may be wondering “How do I challenge my property tax assessment in Pennsylvania?”

If you have decided to list your house for sale in Pennsylvania, you will need to make several important decisions along the way to a successful sale. The first, and possibly the most important, of those decisions is whether to work with a real estate agent or list the home for sale “By Owner.” If you are considering the “By Owner” route, you may wish to consider the following things you need to know before selling your house without a realtor.

Real estate has long been considered one of the best long-term investments – and sometimes it even makes a good short-term investment if the market is just where you want it to be. If you are contemplating investing in real estate one of the first factors you will want to consider is what type of entity is best for investing in real estate. While there is no right or wrong decision, your choice of entity will have an impact on your investment as well as on your overall financial health. Consulting with an experienced Pennsylvania real estate attorney is always your best option because you attorney can discuss how each entity will impact your unique situation; however, a broad understanding of the entities available and their pros and cons may also be beneficial.

In the normal course of events, the sale of a capital assets that results in a gain to the seller is a taxable event. As such, a taxpayer who realizes a gain from the sale of a capital asset will owe capital gains tax on the realized gain. One way to avoid, at least for a time, the payment of capital gains taxes is to enter into a Section 1031 Exchange in lieu of a traditional sale. If a transaction qualifies for Section 1031 treatment, any capital gains taxes that would normally be due on the gain are deferred. Among the many rules for entering into a Section 1031 Exchange is that you use a “Qualified Intermediary” to facilitate the exchange.

Whether you are in the market to purchase or sell real estate the assistance of an experienced and knowledgeable real estate agent can be invaluable. Unfortunately, if you end up with the wrong agent it can make your buying or selling experience a colossal failure. Worse still, it could end up costing you money instead of saving you money in the long run. If you are currently working with a real estate agent and you realize he/she is not the right agent for you and your needs you may be wondering “Can I fire my real estate agent?”

To understand the short-sale process you first need to understand how a mortgage loan works and a little bit about the real estate market. Most people cannot afford to pay cash for the purchase of a home. To finance the purchase of a home most people take out a mortgage loan and then make monthly mortgage payments for 15-30 (typically) years until the loan is paid off. At any time during the life of the loan a borrower may sell the home and pay off the mortgage with the proceeds from the sale. Of course, that assumes that the proceeds from the sale will be sufficient to pay off the balance owed on the loan. If the real estate market takes a drastic turn for the worse, as often happens during a recession, that assumption could be wrong.

Anytime a new building or structure, whether commercial or residential, is constructed, a number of different steps must be taken during the process. It takes a team of professionals to take a building from conception to construction. A civil engineer is usually among those professionals. Whether you are planning to build a multi-million dollar commercial office park, or just your dream home, you may need to employ the services of a civil engineer.

Whether you are planning to build your dream home or a multi-unit commercial complex, the entire project is based on a construction contract. For both the owner and the contractor, the cost of the project is important; however, it is not only the final cost that matters, but how that cost is arrived at as well that is important. In the construction industry, there are several different types of commonly-used pricing structures, including a “guaranteed maximum price” construction contract.

When real estate is purchased, there are different ownership structures by which the owners may take title. One option is to take title as tenants in common. Tenancy in common means that two or more people own a property concurrently and the co-owners have a simultaneous right to possession.  Each of the co-owners has an individual, undivided interest in the property that is owned as tenants in common, so each can transfer his or her own ownership interest.