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Blog Posts: Real Estate

January 25, 2017
So Joe, who lives and works in Chicago, has decided that he wasn't getting enough use out of his second home in Scottsdale, located on the 15th fairway of a very challenging golf course, and has, with some regret, put it up for sale.  A buyer is quickly procured, and Joe's listing broker presents him with form entitled "Residential Seller's Property Disclosur...
January 6, 2017
Anybody who has ever had a child has heard the refrain “but that’s NOT FAIR.”  While the concept of “fairness” plays a big role in how the world should operate in the minds of children, there is sometimes a disconnect between “fairness” and the “justice” that is doled out by the legal system.&nbs...
May 9, 2016
In a typical residential sales transaction, the first formal document usually exchanged is an offer, usually by the buyer to the seller. The seller then either accepts or submits a counter-offer, and back and forth it goes until one side either accepts the other's counter-offer or calls off the negotiations. Upon the acceptance being communicated the two sides hav...
March 21, 2016
All real estate professionals and investors are familiar with the concept of the priority of liens.  As a general rule, when there are multiple liens recorded against a property, the one that is recorded first is "superior" to the one that is recorded later, which, in turn, is "subordinate" to the one that is recorded first.  This "ranking" of liens beco...
March 9, 2016
Video Transcript Hi, my name is David Allen and I'm a partner at Jaburg Wilk.  I specialize in commercial litigation with an emphasis on real estate litigation and also handle some transactional work. If somebody owes me money, can I put a lien against their real estate to make sure that I get paid? The short answer to that question is usually no.  If so...
February 12, 2016
In today's world, fewer marriages exist and more people are cohabitating in committed relationships for various reasons. Arizona's community property laws do not apply to the ownership of real property between unmarried individuals.  This limits the way in which title can be held, but also raises additional issues, such as what happens to the property upon th...
February 1, 2016
Have you purchased or handled a sale of rural land with a winding, dusty private driveway that crossed neighboring property once or twice before reaching the public road? Did you compare that driveway with the property deed, to see if the deed included an "easement" for the driveway? Did the legal description of the easement actually match the driveway's layout? W...
January 26, 2016
While most commercial leases contain a requirement that the tenant will execute a "Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreement," commonly referred to a an "SNDA," a majority of tenants who have signed such leases, and most likely several of the real estate agents who have represented those tenants, would be hard pressed to explain the meaning of an SNDA...
November 12, 2015
Most tenants and their real estate agents who negotiate commercial leases accept that many of the terms in the landlord’s “form” lease favor the landlord.  One term, however, that favors only the tenant, and which every commercial tenant should seek to include in their lease, is an option to extend the lease term.  The reason that said term is only for the ...
August 3, 2015
After months of searching, you have finally found the house of your dreams, and much to your delight the Seller has accepted your offer of $500,000. You deposit your $15,000 "earnest money" with the escrow company, and an escrow is opened. As part of your "due diligence" you spend $1,000 on inspections, and in anticipation of moving, you pay a moving company a $1,5...