You will receive an Addict award along with a habit; as well as learning and retaining useful real estate information without struggling.We are considered to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with so connect with REIA meetings, accountability partners, and mastermind groups to engage with individuals interested in real estate investing.At the bottom of this page is a list with help in it.

I urgently require a recommendation for a real estate attorney in the Miami area.This is a double sided issue relating to a specific performance lawsuit and a counter claim.I was given a recommendation to one lawyer who seemed quite proactive however he requested a $10,000 upfront retainer which I wasn't comfortable with.I met another lawyer who requested a $500 retainer and seemed to be confident and knowledgable.I decided to go with the second one and my experience with him has been like a circus.I urgently need someone competent.

He is not settling the trust, the trust is being set up by the seller, and I presume with the seller's interests being protected and the buyer's rights being limited.If the buyer is unconcerned that he can lose the property quickly, without any legal statutory protections of a mortgage or deed of trust and without the lender having to foreclose; is unconcerned that should worst come to worst he will not have bankruptcy as an option to try to retain ownership of the property; is unconcerned that he won't be able to sell the property without a complete change in ownership structure and is unconcerned with limited property rights as compared to what he would have vis a vis a general warranty deed, than he may want to follow your advice and not worry about purchasing a beneficial interest in a land trust.  

In the body of the deed, down below the legal description, there's an asterisk next to which it says "A hereby retains a life estate". 

If so, how do I structure that arrangement so I retain ownership of the property, and what incentives (equity, cash flow, one-time fee, etc.) should I offer to the individual for securing a mortgage in my place?

Not bad.But, let say the note holder sells the first 60 payments and retains their right to receive the remaining 120 payments.

This is a typical scenario on property that I plan to sell with owner financing:80,000contract price 4,000down payment40,000first D-T(I will offer to SELL THIS NOTE)36,000second D-T(I will retain for my account)Example first D-T terms: 8.00%, 20 year amortization, 5 year balloon.

If the investor is happy with no cash flow and allows you to pay the property obligations and then retain the remaining cash flow yourself, then you will simply give him a good equity split when you cause his exit either by selling the property or cashing him out with your funds or a loan.We don't have your numbers to judge the gain on sale or property value improvement so it is tough to really zero in but generally the larger portion of capital the investor puts in the large the portion of the net gain they will get, since it is their capital that took all the risk.

@Chris Seveney  my experience of buying in WA state at foreclsoure is that it will wipe out the HOA lienalthough its RARE to have a HOA foreclosure in this market its not like FLA.however as Chris says attorney may be one to talk to but its going to cost a lot of money in legal fee's so unless you have signficant equity.. it may not be worth it.. your just going to waste money on attorney.Attorney our way charge 300 to 500 an hour and will probably want a 3k retainer to start.. its not east coast closing attorney type relationships out this way.

But if I lose I'm out the money for court costs plus the expenses the attorney has a $5000 retainer plus another $5000 is expected before it's all said and done.