Real Estate with Renee Featuring Goodwin Law, P.A.

Good morning, Southwest Florida, and good morning, Matt.

Oh, hi, good morning. I actually can't hear anything, Renee, even though we were just talking.

You can't hear me?

Just a moment. That's interesting.

Oh, are you Are you getting any sound?

Hang on, it's, uh, yeah, I can't hear anything. Renee, if I pop out, I come back in, that's fine. I can hear— let me do that.

Well folks, this is technology. You, you live and you learn. So we're gonna— Matt will be back with us, but I wanted to let you know we're doing these sessions as an opportunity to showcase local businesses. We're actually, you know, although things have changed since— oh, let's add them back in. Can you hear me now?

I can hear you.

Yeah, it's so weird. I was just saying, you know, technology is just one of those things that works perfectly until it doesn't. So I was sharing with the audience, um, that these broadcasts are really a way to connect local businesses with local people, and I started them with, uh, you know, when COVID hit, I went and bought the software and thought this is a great opportunity to start to showcase businesses that may not have their physical storefronts open. As we've started to progress, and as obviously in the state of Florida businesses have opened back up, I now wanted to selfishly use these as an opportunity to showcase businesses that are more specific in the space that I get to enjoy working in. And so I am honored, Matt, to have you today from Goodwin Law, and would love if you would take just a few minutes to give the audience a little bit of your background.

Well, thank you. I'm honored to be here. I appreciate you reaching out. Uh, I, I'm born and raised in South Florida on the East Coast in a town called Lake Park. Those of you familiar with Collier County know there's a Lake Park over here as well, but that's where I was born and raised. And, uh, 25 years later, went to New York City with my now wife for when she was going to medical school. Made this big circle back, took a 4-year pit stop in Michigan, finished my undergrad at the University of Michigan, and then circled back to Gainesville where I went to University of Florida for law school. And then we stopped in Central Florida for just under a year before we ended up here in Naples. We love it. I focus my practice on real estate transactions. Estate planning and probate administration. You can read more about us on the website, but the, the large bulk of our business is from real estate closings. I also have a title company, and that's called Florida Fidelity Title and Escrow, the office in Palm Beach Gardens. We, we cover the entire state, and each entity has a different source of business that comes from it. Work mostly with real estate investors for acquisitions and resales, distressed homes, um, probably in about 15 different counties for the title company. And then from Naples here, mostly servicing Collier and Lee counties, but we do go out beyond when the need arises. Um, I have 2 kids, 2 boys, each 4 and 9, Justin and Jaden. Justin's the older one. My wife Nancy, she's a physician, just started a med spa as well. Inside Out Med Spa, and, uh, it's, it's always a hustle for us, um, working.

Matt, I'm trying to figure out when the Goodwin family sleeps.

Well, we do sleep at nighttime, uh, at, yeah, 9, 10 o'clock, get up from 5 to anywhere between 5 and 6. Some nights we sleep less than others. Most nights we don't ever sleep more. So, uh, every now and then I'll take a 20-minute power nap and recharge during the day. That can often help.

Yeah, I love it. Well, I met Matt because of his— as a result of his involvement with Naples Area Board of Realtors. And, you know, I, I want to take a moment just to highlight that because we obviously in the real estate space in Southwest Florida have a lot of people that support this industry from different angles, whether it's mortgage, closing, real estate law, inspections, all of that wrapped around the industry of helping people purchase and sell their, their homes. And for all of the people that are involved, not everybody takes the time to get involved in ways that don't directly result in a pay at that moment. And Naples Area Board of Realtors is one of those opportunities to give back, and Matt does a phenomenal job, whether it's sitting on the legal committee, whether it's offering training to agents and others. And so I just personally, you know, I know that is all in the volunteer capacity above and beyond what you do to help the end customers with their real estate transactions. And I just want to call out that I think that's, uh, you know, a great contribution. And, and I personally thank you for that, Matt.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

He helps keep us all in line that way. I imagine there's some intrinsic benefit that if you can help us get better at our jobs, it makes your job easier. Is that the case?

Well, that, that's one of the, uh, ulterior motives of all of us. We want to keep professionalism at the forefront and also protect ourselves from liability, you know. So that it's a collective effort between the top brokers and trainers in the area and the, the, the most involved real estate attorneys, which, you know, run a full spectrum of experience. So it is a very group collective effort for sure.

And I know your office in Naples is just above the William Ravis office over there in Seagate, am I correct?

Yes, it is.

Yeah, having passed you in the corridor, I'm familiar with that. So, well, good. Well, Matt, what I'd love to do as a real estate agent, um, you know, it seems no matter how experienced somebody is as a buyer or seller in their transactions or not. Um, there I always get asked one of the questions up front when people find a property they're interested in pursuing. One of my early questions is always, okay, let's talk about who you'd like to manage your closing. Sometimes I even capture that earlier in the process, and it's not uncommon for me to get the question, do I pick a title company or attorney? I don't know, why would I do one or the other? And so I'd love from your vantage point to give a little insight into, you know, as, seller or as a buyer, because both, both have choices to make, right? And they're not always the same, uh, for the same reason or the same choice. What are some of the considerations if somebody's, you know, asking that question and trying to understand?

It's not the first time I've been asked that, and it's not going to be the last. And you would think I might be a little biased because I own a title company and a law firm. So I'll first by state that there are reasons that a business, from a business standpoint, that one a person may open one or the other. And, and others where a non-attorney can open a title company but can't prop— have a partnership in a law firm. So as an attorney, that, that doesn't affect me, but for marketing purposes, there may be a title company opened by a lawyer. From the consumer's perspective, you may not notice a difference until you need a legal question answered. So you can't anticipate when you're going to need or how often you're going to need a legal question issued. But I was thinking about this question before, or yesterday I was thinking about it because I, I knew you, you might ask it. And I, I'm usually happy to discuss it because the easy thing would say, well, you should always use a law firm, right? And it's like, well, I own this title company. How does that stay in business if I adopt the mentality that you should always use a law firm? So when you anticipate a legal issue, when there is a complicated, a complex transaction, uh, possibly even if you're a first-time home buyer, you know, my— what I came to realize is that first of all, not all real estate law firms and real estate title companies are created equal. So you want to go, you know, with people you, you enjoy working with. And whether the realtor is vouching for them or not is sometimes indicative. But you also look at your own comfort level. And, and in some places you may be coming from a state where a lawyer always handled the closings, and it may not even be a question like, what's a title company? I've never heard of that. And then your realtor will explain to you what it is. I tell people our law firm functions like a title company, and we often get calls from agents where there's a transaction pending with a title company, a local competitor of ours, and then they call us when something goes wrong. I said, well, wait a minute, um, is it— is the consumer going to be paying me for legal advice, or am I just going to answer questions when an issue comes up with the title company? And, you know, we try to— we, we try to, um, answer legal questions when they come up, but the benefit of working with a real estate law firm for your closing is that sometimes, and more often than not, you're not paying extra to have a legal question answered. Whereas, you know, you have a title company that's working on the transaction and it's not owned by a lawyer, or the lawyer just does not offer legal services in addition to that title work, then you will be paying more money when— if and when an issue does come up. So peace of mind for some, comfort for others. And convenience too. And then also there could be a cost savings because we charge just like— we charge the same settlement fees with the title company and the law firm. And you usually will see that that's a common misconception, that a real estate law firm costs more, and oftentimes it doesn't and can sometimes save you money if a legal question does arise.

Yep. And I've been on both sides of that, so I can vouch for that. I, you know, I try to look at what the, the customer preferences are, and sometimes they have strong ones. And then I try to look at the complexity of the deal and, and what I think some of the considerations. And obviously, um, I don't make the decision for them, but try to provide valued guidance, and much in line with what, what you've talked about here. And, and I think you made a good point, which is, um, when I've had people get gun-shy about the suggestion of an attorney, they immediately start thinking about billable hours. And I've had to explain, these attorneys have a piece of their business which is providing closing services. That's very different than if you're hiring an attorney on a case, on a litigation, on whatever, fill in the blanks. And so that service already has a packaged price. Now, if you start to exercise that service beyond its scope, there could be additional costs involved. But, um, and I'm sure that's a fine gray line at times that is a little bit of a judgment call on your guys's end. But I do— I'm glad you pointed that out because sometimes I do find people get gun-shy thinking, you know, they immediately see dollar signs. And we all know a real estate transaction in general is expensive when you pay everybody.

Yes, it can be. Um, there's two instances that are exceptions to the standard services are outside the scope that you had mentioned. Generally, inspection issues are— is the big one that's more common because you can fight a long time over inspection issues. The other exception is non-standard title defects. Now, there may be something that clearly needs a lawyer and you would expect to pay, such as having to do a probate administration, but there may be some complex trusts, uh, involved as well, where it's not— or, or maybe something in the chain of title that has to be cleared, whether it's a lien that's not in your name or a lien that we're trying to get removed before you close. You know, again, it's all within reason. If it— if we spend an extra 30 minutes to an hour and it's time well spent, we don't always bill for that. If it gets long and drawn out, you know, we— maybe we spend 4 hours, we adjust it down to an extra hour or two of our biller rate at the time of closing. Because, you know, we want to provide a service that's competitive, but we also want to respect our time and yours and the consumers. And, and most people understand that, you know, you, you get your money's worth if you either get out of a transaction that you didn't— that you shouldn't be going to— or you go into one and you close in a much better situation had you not gotten that extra legal oomph. And sometimes that's all it takes, a little bit of push, uh, an email from your attorney to another party or a conversation with a couple of the parties, and you can oftentimes fill that void where you don't need to have a big legal bill added to the transaction costs.

Yeah, well, and I share this not in any way to minimize the contribution of an attorney, but there are times sometimes when just having something come from an attorney, even if it's the same thing everybody else has said 3 times over, has a different level of attention getting, we'll just say. And again, to minimize the, the big contributions you guys make, but sometimes there's a value in, in just that.

I agree. It— I give you a couple examples where just, especially in other counties where, where the transaction is in the properties in another county across the state— Miami-Dade's a big one We, we dealing with Miami-Dade transactions, you often have an attorney on the other side, and sometimes you have a title company, and the agents are going back and forth. And then we're observing it from a distance because we're not directly involved in the dialogue. And then the question is, you know, what's going on? What are we going to do here? And then we'll shoot an email off, say, you know, here's my understanding of the situation, um, it's really two options, or whatever the circumstances warrant at the time. We can provide that custom advice. And like you said, sometimes we're just repeating what was already said, and it's more conclusory, right? And it's, you know, it's job security for sure, but there's a reason why, you know, having a lawyer involved can help. And it's not— you don't always need that legal advice, but it may just be stating a conclusion, a legal conclusion. Or interpreting a contract provision.

Absolutely. I think there's also something about, you know, I, as a real estate agent who happens to also have my MBA and my undergrad, that may be unusual. The entry, the point of entry into real estate is actually very easy in terms of, you know, taking certain classes, taking a state test. And we all know that it's not that easy to get into practicing law. So I think there is a credibility that comes with that extra tier of knowledge and experience and expertise that, uh, that unfortunately, um, you know, the masses in real estate don't necessarily have. And so I, I think that's invaluable.

That's a good point. I appreciate you mentioning that, that, that, that is true.

Yeah. One other thing I want to mention before we move on to my next question for you, um, another point of confusion on the whole title versus law firms that come up, um, in Collier County— this is different for Lee County, but in Collier County, the buyer selects the escrow agent, which is typically the same company that will close the buyer side of the transaction. And when a buyer selects a title company, often sellers that aren't familiar with the setup don't understand why they can't, you know, select another title company. They don't want to necessarily have, for whatever reasons, the same closing company. They like the checks and balance. And I often find myself having to explain, you know, title companies are— their service is providing title insurance for the most part, and then as a con— you know, a side, they will close the transaction. So if a buyer selects a title company and you wish to have someone else managing your side of the close, your option is an attorney. It's going to be a different type of service than when that attorney is closing the whole transaction. But can you talk a little bit about that situation?

Yes, seller representation is the scope of services, and oftentimes the seller will select an attorney to prepare their documents to convey title and also work on clearing things for their end. So ordering estoppels, ordering payoffs, working with the seller's mortgage company you know, confirming this, the listing agent's commissions, and sort of being the voice for the seller. You know, the seller's still working with the agent, and, and oftentimes the— we're doing this on a flat fee. It's, it's higher than what the settlement fee would be if we were handling a transaction, but in most cases it's less than $1,000. More often it's even closer to $800. But the— what we're doing is we're preparing documents that— and we're coordinating the signatures. And but we're also working with the closing agent to make sure that title is being addressed properly. And if there's any objections that are made, that's where we come in. And that's where you can still go outside of the scope of that service, that standard service, where you've already engaged an attorney. There's maybe some legal questions that come up and it may be minimal, and you may have an additional fee if you go beyond it, and you may not. But to, to answer your question more directly, it's, it's really, it's a, it comes down to comfort. Sometimes cost is a factor, but most— let's say you're a seller in Collier County or in another county in Florida where the buyer picks, and you come from a state where lawyers handle the transactions, it's a no-brainer for you But to convince the other person when it makes sense, it may— it's off— it's sometimes a little bit harder because they say, well, I just pay the title company $500, whatever it comes, and, you know, yeah, I'll save $300, $400. And the problem with that can sometimes come when a legal issue does come up. And I obviously can't give any names, but there's some there's some really good reasons why you would want to have that attorney handle your side of the transaction as a seller. We cover the entire state. Broward County buyer picks, for instance. Palm Beach County seller picks. Uh, Collier County buyer picks. Lee County seller picks. And throughout the state it varies. Most of the counties, a seller does control that decision. And this actually reminded me of something I was telling you, the difference between a title company that we have and a law firm. If you're doing multiple transactions a year, if you're an investor and you, you want— you don't need a lawyer because you have one that you can call if you need to, and, or maybe you even already have— maybe you, you pay for one each transaction that you know, a title company may be appropriate for you where you don't— you know that when you have something come up, you already got a guy for that, or a girl for that, or a woman for that, and the first-time home buyer or the person that buys or sells a home maybe every couple years, a real estate law firm can really come in handy to help them navigate and work with their agent to craft any custom provisions that need to come up. And sometimes it's something really small, and sometimes it's something really big and significant.

Yeah, I know, that's fantastic. Thank you, Matt. I want to take things in a little bit of different direction, and we— and you touched upon a couple of things early on that would have been a great segue to this, but I held this back as I had a couple other questions I wanted to get in. You see a lot of different transactions, not just within the county of which we're both residents right now, but across the state. And I always say, whether it's in real estate or something else, I learn the most when I make mistakes. In real estate, I try really hard to minimize them because my mistakes affect other people. In some cases. Um, but you have that opportunity where— and, and I shouldn't even say sometimes, maybe it's not even a mistake, right? Maybe nobody did anything wrong, but there were things as agents and as buyers and sellers that we could have done to make things go smoother. What are some of the more common, what I would call, tension points, you know, fallouts that you see and, and then require your involvement that you could pass on to those of us in other capacities that would help avoid those in our transactions.

Yeah, I, I was writing some notes here as you started to ask that, trying to think of some of the big ones, because there's, there's many that often rear their heads frequently. And, but there's quite a few. So dead— and then some are more generally speaking. So look at your deadlines. You know, be, be aware of those deadlines in the beginning. Communication is huge, and that comes to communication with your buyer or your seller, setting those expectations when there's a financing contingency, finding out whether there is a, uh, a FIRPTA, Foreign Investment Real Property Tax, issue where there's a foreign seller, making sure that, um, you, the buyer and the seller, are aware of the exceptions to the FERPTA rules, um, dealing with personal property.

And then before you go on to personal property, I want to make sure people understand, because those of us that are agents know what you mean when you're talking about FERPTA, but buyers and sellers and homeowners may not. Um, do you, do you want to just give 2 seconds on when you're talking about FERPTA?

Sure. And I, I have a podcast, Goodwin Law Unplugged, and the next episode that's going to go live is with is on FIRPTA. So you can listen to that, but FIRPTA is when there's a certain amount of money that may be required to be withheld. And if the purchase price is more than $300,000, you're almost certain to have some withheld if the seller's foreign. And if you don't have all your ducks in a row, then that could significantly delay your closing. And what you'll hear on the podcast, and you may have experienced personally already, is the IRS is very backed up, particularly right now.. And the seller, a foreign seller, can apply for an exemption from this withholding. It's getting the response back on that exemption that can, can delay the closing significantly. And if another example is, uh, if a foreign seller, let's say Canadian seller, you know, comes here all the time, owns property here, maybe is bought and sold over the years, and the Canadian buyer let's say the Canadian seller knows that they're not going to have much withheld, but they're requiring 15%, they can file for this exemption. But if the buyer doesn't have an international or individual tax ID number yet, an ITIN they call it, then that application has to be made at the same time. And where I'm going with this is if you don't know these things in the beginning, then it raises more questions as to, all right, what is FIRPTA? Why, why do I have to deal with it? Well, the contract has a really good provision on explaining what FERPTA requires the parties to do. So read that section if you know the seller's foreign. But then it comes down to communicating. The listing agent has to communicate, you know, whether FERPTA applies and, and if so, what that means and what it could mean. And it's a delicate balance because when offers are made, it's let's get the offer in real quick, we can deal with all that other stuff later. But there's so many little things you can do to deal with it in the beginning that will make your life a lot easier when you're dealing with a foreign seller. And that's the, um, some of the pain points of FIRPTA.

Yeah, no, thank you. I realized when I look at, um, I used to do— I still do intake, um, interviews with my customers on the buy and selling. And when I looked at— I went back the other day, was cleaning out files— what my original list looked like to what it looked like a couple transactions in, it's started growing because of some of those things. And I'm like, ah, I gotta— you know, you have to find out about that up front. No surprise, no surprises. So thank you, Matt. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I want you to go on with some of the other examples, but I— when you mentioned FIRPTA, I wanted people to understand what you were talking about. It wasn't, uh— FIRPTA kind of sounds like a belch sometimes.

Yeah, it is very complex, and every transaction that it applies, we go to— we use a flowchart and make sure we don't skip a beat, and it helps us keep everybody in tune. But the— it can sometimes be troubling depending on your facts. Deadlines are big, but put— putting something in, filling in the blanks in the contract are also really important. Understanding what it means to put in a 10-day inspection period or cash versus financing contingency. You'd like to be able to rely on what your realtor tells you, and an experienced realtor is going to explain it properly. But they're— unless they're a lawyer, they're not really allowed to interpret those provisions. So that's where having a real estate attorney, even a 10-15 minute phone call before you make an offer or after the offer is, is, is ready to be prepared and you know, send it over before you fire it off. You can even put a, a rider on there that says, this is— we got 3 days to get out of this after our attorney reviews it, just in case you want to get that offer in and you don't have time. Or maybe it's a Saturday night, Sunday morning, you're at the open house and you're like, I want to make an offer right here, but my attorney doesn't usually work on Sundays at 11 o'clock. So, you know, that could happen. The big one, the financing is a really, really big one. And, you know, I can't stress this more, that if you're relying on a, a loan, which most of us are— most of— there's, uh, statistics that we don't experience this in my office, but in Collier County, at least somewhere around 50% of the transactions are cash. It's not like that in the rest of the state. In the rest of the state it's 90% borrowing money unless you're dealing with a volume buyer or an investor. So I've seen more disputes arise because of a financing contingency than any— everything other than possibly inspection issues. So those are the two big ones: inspection issues. Um, the, the— what you need to understand when you enter that contract is just exactly what it means and when you have when is your deadline to terminate that contract and get out? You also have to sometimes waive that contingency. And I'm not going to go into too many specifics because the contracts do vary. We have our NABOR, Naples Area Board agency contract, and then the Florida Realtors Florida Bar, the FARBAR contract. They, they are different on these two points. And understanding when you're when it's too late, and also understanding what you're actually required to do to prevent the seller from terminating on you. Because let's say you spent money on, you know, your inspections, you, you do want the property, but you're just kind of sitting back waiting for the process to run. Before you know it, you get a termination letter from the seller, and you're getting your money back, but you don't want your money back. You want to buy that house. You've already picked the floors out, you've already hired the painter, or whatever it is you've done. You've got the fence company to come out and measure. There— you're already emotionally attached to that purchase. That's where the tension can often rise, and it doesn't always have to get to that point. Sometimes the lender that you selected is part of the problem, not the solution, and you have to know when it's time to pull that plug. So there's a lot of moving parts to, to be considerate of when you're financing the property. And, you know, it's hard to say don't get emotionally attached until you close because you wouldn't have made that offer if you didn't have an emotional connection to that property. So if you were a real estate agent buying property, you probably should have another agent help you with that transaction because your judgment's going to be clouded. And everybody— well, I don't say everybody, but there's more than 6,000 realtors in Collier County And realtors buy and sell homes for themselves too. So I often work with agents, and the same thing goes for closing agents and lawyers. When, you know, my employees buy a property, they're going to be more attached to it, and they're going to see, you know— and, and I've done it myself, you know, your judgment gets clouded. So you have to, um, be— learn how to be objective to a certain point, but understanding what it means to have a financing contingency, understanding what it means to only have 10 days, understanding what it means to buy a property as-is or to sell a property as-is as the seller. I can't tell you how often I hear the sellers, well, I'm selling as-is, I don't have to do anything. Well, you kind of do. You have to at least make sure the property is maintained in the condition it was on the effective date. That's across the board, most, most parts of the state. The as-is contract though is most frequently used than the standard improved contract.

And Matt, you, you talk about— I want to inject a point if you don't mind here. I, I remember starting in real estate and almost being overly polite, that I never wanted to offend somebody's prior experience buying and selling. And so I didn't want to, you know, I didn't want to take them through things that felt so elementary. But I will tell you, one of the things I've come to appreciate the most is no matter how experienced or inexperienced your client is, your buyer, your seller, um, it is always worth taking the time to go through the documents. And we all know— I can't tell you how many people I'll send a document and 2 seconds later they've signed it. Well, that's obvious, they haven't read it. So before we make offers owners and before we accept contracts, I've learned even with the most astute, experienced owners or buyers, take the time to say, hey, look, there are just a few things. I'm sure you're very knowledgeable about this, but there are just a few things that I want to make sure are perfectly clear because every contract is different and it helps avoid some of the things you've talked about, whether it's understanding deadlines whether it's understanding and obligations and commitments under inspections, whether it's understanding finance contingencies and what that really means. Walking through— you don't have to read the whole contract to them unless you want to put them to sleep, but there are some areas that are really, really important that is worth you sitting down and going through with your customers because of everything Matt just said. They won't necessarily do it. And it's not because they're careless. There is almost this trust that happens that people infer, well, because I think you have my best interest, of course I'm not signing anything that could cause me harm. And it's a, it's a, um, a dangerous point.

Yeah, it's also a delicate balance once you are, you know, depending on the receptivity of that person. If you're doing it over the phone, you can't gauge their body language. So if you're not in person and you're going over something, you should do it on camera so you can see and make sure they're not— they're giving you their undivided attention because you wouldn't be on the phone with them or on a video chat or talking to them about something if it weren't important. And they need to understand that. So oftentimes advice falls on deaf ears and not— it's the nature of the world that we live in. We're distracted. All the time. So it's hard to get— and especially it's hard to get someone's undivided attention now, more ever, more than it has been in the past. And more people have their kids with them. I have two children. I know you have children there. I love my kids, and I don't mean this in a negative way, but they're distracting because you, you have to focus on them to a certain extent, of course, depending on their age and the circumstances. Than have your children not be present. So there's a lot of distractions you got to be aware of when you are explaining these things.

Yeah, no, absolutely true. Well, Matt, I know we're rounding out the half an hour here, and I just want to give you an opportunity to share anything in closing that you would like, whether it's those watching us live or those that may catch us on replay later.

Yeah, well, make sure you set your deposit appropriate amount for the transaction and really think through financing contingencies and understand them and make sure you put realistic terms in there. Give yourself enough time, but use a good real estate agent, you know, when you're making your offer or when you're selling your property, because they're worth their weight in gold. And, you know, everybody thinks that that, you know, working with an agent is, is not necessary once they get an offer. If they get an offer too quick, like, well, why did I have an agent? Well, it's not always that easy. And if the more work that agent did honing their craft, but also preparing that your property to be sold, that's a benefit that you wouldn't otherwise had had you not been working with an experienced agent. Also, when you're choosing a title company versus a law firm, you know, if you have a comfort level with someone already, then that's an easy decision. But you don't have to be married to that one entity. And, you know, we obviously thrive ourselves— thrive from having loyal agents that come with us, and there's a comfort level over the years with some. And— but we're always continuing to look for new relationships, and, and we try to add value. Call a real estate attorney before you make an offer. Find one that's going to give you a few minutes that is not going to charge you for it, just to give you that extra peace of mind. You know, go through the blanks on the contract with your agent and don't expect the defaults to be appropriate in every circumstance. There are default terms in the contract to make sure a contract is binding and isn't ambiguous, but those default terms aren't always the best terms for you. Some of the big ones are inspection deadlines. You may need more than the default time for a particular piece of property for whatever reason. You, you may want to put less if you're already satisfied with it to make your offer more attractive. You may want to put a larger deposit. You may have a really good reason to put a really small deposit. So there's all these different things that you can do, and some of it's the art of negotiation, the art of making a good offer. But engage a real estate attorney early on in the process as possible, and or somebody else that you trust and can rely on to have your best interests. When you're buying or selling.

Well, thank you, Matt. We— I appreciate your time today. If anybody is interested in learning more about Matt and his real estate or title services in the state of Florida, his contact information has been scrolling down below so that it is subliminally tattooed in your mind next time you have a real estate need. So Matt, I appreciate you sharing your time and your expertise this morning. Thank you for all you do in support of people working on purchases and sales of arguably their, their largest financial possession. That's a lot of trust that people put in you, so thank you for doing it well.

It's my pleasure. Thank you, Renee, for having me.

Have a wonderful rest of the week, everyone, and thanks for joining us on Southwest Florida Connections Real Estate with Renee.