Hernando · Pasco · Citrus · Hillsborough
These are the ones other cash buyers hang up on. Several heirs, an owner nobody can find, a deed signed wrong in 1987 — it's the part of this business I know best, and it's usually more solvable than it looks.
It just means the public record doesn't cleanly show that you, and only you, have the right to sell. A title company won't insure it until that's resolved, and without title insurance a normal sale doesn't happen.
That sounds terminal. It usually isn't. Most of these have a known fix; the variable is how long it takes and who pays for it.
Depends entirely on which problem you have. An unreleased mortgage might need a satisfaction chased down from a lender that no longer exists. A missing heir might need a probate opened, or a quiet title action, or a straightforward affidavit. A bad legal description might need a corrective deed and a cooperative signature.
What they have in common is that they need somebody who knows which fix applies and is willing to pay an attorney to do it. That's generally me. I bring in Florida attorneys who do this work routinely, and I'll often carry that cost, because a property I can actually close on is worth considerably more to me than one I can't.
When several people own a property and they don't all agree, you're not necessarily stuck. In some cases I can buy one owner's undivided interest — which gets that person paid and out, and makes me a co-owner who then deals with resolving the rest. If you're the heir who wants to be done while everyone else argues, that's a route worth asking about.
A clean house closes in about two weeks. A title problem takes as long as the fix takes — sometimes a few weeks, sometimes several months if a court is involved. I'll tell you which one you're looking at once I've seen the chain of title, and I'd rather give you an accurate long answer than an optimistic short one.
What I won't do is tie up your property on a contract and then disappear for six months. If I can't solve it, I'll say so.
I buy property for my own account. I'm not an attorney and nothing here is legal advice — for your specific situation, talk to a Florida attorney. I work with several and I'm glad to point you toward one.
Anything in the public record that leaves doubt about who has the right to sell — a missing heir, an unreleased mortgage, a deed error, an old lien. A title company won't insure it until it's cleared up.
Usually. Depending on the circumstances that might mean a probate, a quiet title action, or buying out the heirs who are available. It's a common situation with known routes through it.
Typically me. I need clean title to close, so it's in my interest to fund the curative work rather than ask you to.
Often yes. Buying an undivided interest gets you paid and out while I take on resolving the rest. Tell me how the property is titled and who else is involved.
Anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on what's wrong and whether a court is involved. I'll give you a realistic answer once I've looked at the chain of title, not a hopeful one.
Then I'll tell you, and you'll know more than you did before. Some properties genuinely can't be sold until something changes, and you deserve to hear that straight.
You don't need to know what's wrong with it. That's the part I'll work out.