Commercial Real Estate Law in Texas

Commercial real estate is any form of land or structure in Bastrop, Texas which is utilized for business purposes, mainly the sale of goods and/or services to the public.

The laws governing commercial real estate in Bastrop, Texas are quite different from those applying to residential real estate.

Buyers and renters of residential property enjoy a large number of legal protections. Many of these protections don't apply to buyers or renters of commercial property.

These include implied warranties of habitability, rent control, and covenants of use and quiet enjoyment, among various others. Of course, the most general protections, such as prohibiting the seller from actively concealing defects, apply to both.

Common Commercial Real Estate Law Issues in Bastrop, Texas

Financing: Some small businesses in Bastrop, Texas find it necessary, at some point, to purchase a piece of real estate, for various reasons. Nonetheless, most owners of small to medium-sized businesses can't afford to make a real estate purchase up front, with the cash they have on hand. Simply put, very few individuals have hundreds of thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank. One solution to this is a mortgage, which is similar to most other forms of secured loans: a bank lends you money, and you put up some piece of property as collateral, so the bank has some security in the event of default. With a mortgage, however, the property being purchased with the loan also secures the loan, allowing the bank to foreclose on it in case the buyer defaults.

Concealment of Defects: if the seller of commercial property acts to conceal a significant defect in the property, and then sells the property, he will be liable for any harm this defect cause, as well as the reduced value of the property, or the cost of repair.

Buyer's Duty to Inspect: generally, buyers of commercial real estate are expected to inspect the property before buying it. A failure to do so might prevent the buyer from prevailing in a lawsuit if he is harmed by physical defects that an inspection would have revealed, and that the seller didn't know about.

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 difficult for the buyer to use the land as they intended when they bought it. A common type of encumbrance in Bastrop, Texas 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 Bastrop, Texas Attorney Help?

These issues can be very complicated, and most people consider such financially-weighty decisions to be very essential. If you are one of those people, it's a smart move to contact a Bastrop, Texas real estate attorney if you are facing any of the issues discussed above.