Cape Coral Commercial Real Estate Lawyers

Find the right Commercial Real Estate attorney in Cape Coral, FL

Commercial Real Estate Law in Florida

In Cape Coral, Florida, "commercial real estate" is any type of land or building which is used for a business, as opposed to residential, purpose.

The laws covering commercial real estate in Cape Coral, Florida are quite different from those applying to residential real estate.

Buyers and renters of residential property enjoy some pretty substantial legal protections, because the law of most states presumes that shelter (being necessary to survive, for the most part) is more important than business. Therefore, many of these consumer protections don't apply to commercial real estate.

These absent protections include rent control, and warranties of habitability, among others. The most basic protections, such as prohibiting sellers of real estate from lying about the property to the buyer, apply in any context, however.

Common Commercial Real Estate Law Issues in Cape Coral, Florida

Financing: Many businesses in Cape Coral, Florida can't save up enough money to pay the full asking price of a decent-sized piece of real estate up front. Nonetheless, it's sometimes necessary for businesses to acquire real estate. To solve this problem, most rely on a mortgage. A mortgage is a common type of loan, taken out to purchase real estate. The lending institution lends the full purchase price to the borrower, who then purchases the property. The property, in turn, becomes collateral for the loan, which must be paid back over a period of years, with interest.

Duty to Disclose Defects: It is of the utmost importance that sellers and lessors of commercial real estate be up front about any defects that might be present in the property. Failing to disclose them can be bad, and actively concealing them can be much worse. In general, if a defect is serious enough that it would influence a reasonable person's decision to buy a piece of property, and the seller knows about it, the seller should disclose it. Failure to disclose can have serious results. If the buyer later discovers the defect, they can sue for the cost of repairing it, or for any reduction in the property's value caused by it. And, of course, if it causes any injuries, the buyer can sue the seller for those, as well.

Duty to Inspect: Lest you believe that the duty to disclose defects relieves any duty of diligence on the part of the buyer, the law will not reward such lapses with a major cause of action. Buyers have a duty to conduct a reasonable inspection of the property before they buy it, typicallyy with a licensed building inspector. If the buyer fails to do this, they won't be able to recover any damages for defects which they could have discovered through a reasonable inspection.

Encumbrances: An encumbrance is any interest held in a piece of property by a party other than the seller and the buyer. These property interests might make it very challenging for the buyer to use the land as they intended when they bought it. A typical type of encumbrance in Cape Coral, Florida is the easement. An easement is some right that a third party has in a piece of property. For example, suppose that, many years ago, a neighbor adjacent to the land you want to buy, paid a previous owner for the right to cross his land to reach a public road. Unless the agreement states otherwise, this right will usually apply to subsequent owners, and has to be honored. Therefore, it might interfere with the intended use of the new owner.

Can a Cape Coral, Florida Attorney Help?

The issues surrounding commercial real estate in Cape Coral, Florida can get fairly complex. Therefore, it's never a bad idea to have the assistance of an efficient commercial real estate attorney.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Cape Coral

Cape Coral, Florida is a city in Lee County, Florida. It has a population of approximately 155,000 people.

The city of Cape Coral, Florida was founded in 1957. Development of the area continued through the 1960s. Cape Coral saw a major addition with the construction of the Cape Coral Bridge, which is about 1 kilometer long. This reduced the drive time between Cape Coral and nearby Fort Myers from over half an hour to just a few minutes.

This allows the professionals who reside in Cape Coral, Florida, such as doctors, accountants, and lawyers, to shorten their commutes to the larger cities in the surrounding area, turning Cape Coral into a quiet residential community.

The economy of Cape Coral, Florida is largely dominated by city government, healthcare, and services. All of these industries employ large numbers of administrative personnel, such as lawyers.

If you live in or around Cape Coral, Florida, and need an attorney, it's very likely that there's a Cape Coral, Florida lawyer who can help you with whatever legal issue you might face.

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