Hollywood, FL asked in Real Estate Law for Florida

Q: can a seller of a condo fill out a warranty deed when selling to a cash buyer?

The Cash Buyer has inspected the property and wants to close asap. Can I complete a warranty deed and submit it to courts for recording once the cash buyer has either given me a cashier's check or confirmation of a bank wire to my account? Or do I have to use a closing agent. The property (condo) is located in Leon County, Florida. Title is clear and marketable. All condo documents have been provided to the buyer.

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2 Lawyer Answers
James Clifton
PREMIUM
Answered

A: The buyer will typically want to do an independent title examination and possibly purchase title insurance. Those things are usually done through the closing attorney or title company. If the buyer accepts your proposition to transfer the deed yourself, you will also need to collect the appropriate taxes that are collected by the clerk at the time of sale. You may also be subjecting yourself to additional liability by taking on the responsibility of preparing the deed.

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A: You are asking for trouble trying to do this yourself. No one should buy or sell property without a lawyer. I'm not saying that to make money for lawyers. I hired one myself for real estate transactions. There are so many things that can go wrong with this it would take volumes of paragraphs to write. The hot topic of today in the Florida Bar newsfeed is who pays for a $72,000 special assessment when one is imposed immediately after the deal is closed. Pretty sure the seller gets sued for that one.

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