REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS ARTICLES
When you might need court approval to sell your home
Question: When my husband and I divorced two years ago, I was awarded our Surprise home. Although I knew I should have seen a lawyer, I quickly recorded a deed to our twin boys because, if I died, I did not want my ex-husband to be able to sell the ‘family’ home. I am now remarrying, and we are all moving to Ahwatukee. I want to sell the Surprise home but the twin boys are still only 16 years old. My real estate agent says that I have to get court approval of any sale of the Surprise home. If I…
Should AZ update qualifications for real estate agents?
Question: I loved your recent column saying that a real estate agent has a fiduciary duty to assist the seller in completing the seller’s property disclosure statement. I am an expert witness who represents both sellers and buyers in real estate litigation. In my opinion, a listing agent has a fiduciary duty to assist the seller in completing the statement, and the buyer’s agent has a fiduciary duty to the buyer to review it and identify red flags. You have no idea how much “pushback” I get from real estate agents and even their attorneys on these obligations. Answer: Thanks for your comments.…
What to know about ‘equity skimming’ in real estate
Question: In 2019, my parents sold the family home in Gilbert and moved to a continuing care facility 3 miles away. They had purchased the family home in the 1980s for $185,000. Both of my parents passed away last year. My sister and I were going through their paperwork recently. We were shocked to find that our parents had signed a contract with a buyer to sell the home, which was in pristine condition, for only $290,000. This buyer, while in escrow sold the home to another buyer for $425,000, and the sale closed. My sister is a Realtor, and she…
Can you force a house sale when a relationship ends?
Question: My boyfriend and I bought as joint tenants a home in south Scottsdale for investment purposes. The home’s value has appreciated significantly, but our relationship has depreciated significantly. I want to sell the home and move on with my life, but he doesn’t! What can I do? Answer: You can file a partition lawsuit to sell the home. Just like no-fault divorce, there is no defense to a partition lawsuit by the other owner of the home. The judge will appoint a special commissioner, usually a real estate broker who ‘farms’ the area, to sell the home. After close of escrow,…
Can homebuyer take back verbal OK to cancel contract?
Question: Last month, I listed my Sun City home for sale to move to Utah to live with my son’s family. An investor buyer immediately offered to buy my home for my list price of $420,000, so I accepted. Since that time, I have had nothing but arguments with my son’s wife, and I no longer want to move to Utah. My listing agent and I then had a meeting at Starbucks with the investor buyer and his agent. I offered the investor buyer $25,000 to cancel the contract, and he accepted my $25,000 offer. I was so happy I started…
Must a property seller accept a full-price offer?
Question: We have a nice home on a five-acre lot outside Prescott. The five-acre lot next to us has always been vacant and is owned by a California investor. Yesterday a real estate agent put a ‘For Sale’ sign on this vacant lot for $175,000. We were so excited because we could now build a home next door for our daughter and her three children. We contacted our friend who is a real estate agent, and at 6 p.m. she presented our full price $175,000 offer to the seller’s listing agent. We heard nothing that night. The next morning our real…
Can an AZ Landowner Build A Road to Landlock a Property?
Question: In 2017 my wife and I bought a lot in the Rio Verde area from a developer. We thought that there was access to our lot from a dirt road over two adjacent lots to the main highway. We are now ready to build a home on our lot, but our contractor states that our paperwork shows that we only have the right of access over one of the adjacent lots. The owner of the other adjacent lot lives in Wisconsin and refuses to even talk to our contractor. Will we be able to build our home? Answer: Probably:…
Does An Arizona Will Need To Be Notarized?
Question: My husband and I are signing a will and revocable living trust with internet forms from a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Our major asset is our Chandler home. These forms do not require the notarization of our signatures or the signatures of our two witnesses. Is our will valid without the notarization of these two signatures? Answer: Probably. If there is no notarization of the signatures of the two witnesses, however, upon the deaths of you and your husband, the two witnesses will have to testify in probate court. Otherwise, the will is self-proving. ARS §14-2504. In other words,…
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