Page 6 - Palm City Spotlight - January '20

Page 6, Palm City Spotlight

Real estate

Treasure Coast Real Estate exposure. They can list their home on Zillow and Trulia for In fact, Zillow and Trulia make their money by selling
free. This gives them national exposure on two of the most
advertisements to Realtors for your property. If you look
Report popular real estate Internet sites. at the “public view” of your property listing, you will see
Why do most people try the For Sale By Owner Realtors ads listed in color above your phone number,
For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Can Work! route? They are hoping to save paying a real estate sales which is in a light gray. Zillow and Trulia don’t make
By Jim Weix commission. I completely understand. any money by allowing you to list your home for free.
Before becoming a Should you be considering this method of selling your Knowing these things will help you avoid any
Realtor, I sold several of home, there are several things to keep in mind. If you are surprises, so give it a try. But what if, after a couple of
my homes myself. I had presently using Zillow and Trulia to sell your home, you months, your home is not selling?
always been in sales, so I may have already discovered these things. One solution might be to contact a Realtor about doing
figured that I was capable When you first put your home on Zillow and Trulia, an “Exclusive Brokerage Listing Agreement.” This is
of selling my home as a For you will be inundated with offers to sell now for cash. similar to a regular listing agreement, except that you
Sale By Owner (FSBO). Realtors will send you offers to put your home in the reserve the right to procure a buyer and not pay a sales
Back then I was limited Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for $75. commission. This will allow your home to be on the
to newspaper classified Ignore the offers to buy your home for cash now. These Multiple Listing Service (MLS) plus dozens of sites,
advertising. Today, however, are from people that want to buy for way below what your like Realtor.com, that don’t allow For Sale By Owner
sellers have the advantage home is worth. Worse yet, they may be from scammers. properties. Yet you can still have it For Sale By Owner.
of getting a much larger Just recently an elderly woman in Port Saint Lucie almost Some sellers will list their home with a Realtor for say
lost her home to a so-called real estate investor. $275,000, but have it For Sale By Owner for $250,000.
It’s Almost FAIR Time! Disregard the offers to put your home in the Multiple Sellers have a lot of options, so you may want to
explore them.
Listing Service (MLS) for $75. There are a lot of
drawbacks to this type of offer. Jim Weix is a Broker Associate with The Keyes
Plan on probably paying a real estate commission. Eighty- Company. Jim has 24 years of experience selling real
five percent of buyers will still use a Realtor to purchase a estate full time. If you have questions or want the services
home, including those that are For Sale By Owner. Although of an experienced expert, you can reach Jim at (772)
you may wish to sell what is likely your largest asset yourself, 341-2941 or jimweix@jimweix.com.
most buyers don’t want to make such a purchase without help.

legal talk

Asset Protection In Florida – Additionally, it is only available while assets remain
Feb 14-22, 2020 For ‘Free’ in this form of ownership. In Florida, a judgment can
remain valid for years. If, during that period, tenancy by
Advanced Tickets By Ryan Abernathy entireties assets were no longer jointly owned – due to
death of a spouse or divorce – the outstanding judgment
We’re frequently
would then instantly attach to the unprotected asset.
On Sale Now! asked how to best Additionally, joint ownership is not always appropriate.
In second marriages or “blended families” where each
protect assets from future
If your family plans to ride judgments. The best way spouse has children from prior relationships, their
planning goal may include “control” provisions in their
is to terminate all contact
the carnival rides, we with potential creditors estate planning to prevent a surviving spouse from fully
controlling all assets that pass to them upon the other
– no business dealings,
suggest buying the Super no borrowing or credit spouse’s death or to alter the eventual disposition of assets
transactions, and no
upon the surviving spouse’s subsequent death.
Saver Packs and save $53! driving or ownership of If both spouses intend for all jointly owned assets to
any vehicle.
pass to the surviving spouse under the surviving spouse’s
Obviously, something that extreme is impossible. full control, joint “TBE” ownership of assets provides a
Available On our website ONLY There are advanced “wealth preservation” strategies that simple way to establish basic asset protection.
Generally, Florida fully exempts one’s homestead
can be designed and implemented to increase protection
Avoid the lines...buy online from “litigation risk” (our office frequently develops property from a creditor’s reach, protecting 100 percent
such protection plans for clients); however, Florida law of the homesteaded property’s value up to one-half acre
provides several “free” asset protection opportunities. located within a municipality and up to 160 contiguous
One of the most powerful of these is ownership of acres outside of a municipality.
assets as a “tenancy by the entireties ownership.” Florida law also provides protection to assets held
Fair Volunteers Needed. This states that so long as assets of a Florida resident in qualified retirement plan accounts (such as IRA and
401(k) accounts) and to annuity contracts.
are jointly owned by spouses, a judgment creditor of one
Sign up on our website. spouse can’t attach or otherwise gain ownership assets These opportunities can provide important asset
protection when used appropriately. It is crucial to meet
owned by the married couple as tenants by the entireties,
so long as the assets remain in that form of ownership. with a qualified attorney or financial advisor to ensure
This form of protection isn’t perfect. For example, that your assets are “owned” or “invested” to take
it wouldn’t protect against a judgment entered against appropriate advantage of the protections offered by the
both spouses. State of Florida.
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