Stuart, Florida Attorneys for Real Estate Purchases & Sales

Market and technical knowledge facilitate smooth transactions

The real estate attorneys of McCarthy, Summers, Wood, Norman, Melby & Schultz, P.A. have extensive experience assisting businesses and individuals in the acquisition, sale and financing of all kinds of residential and commercial real estate in Florida, especially on the Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches. Our firm works with buyers and sellers, as well as lenders, regularly facilitating transactions involving:

Founding partners Terence P. McCarthy and Robert P. Summers lead our highly-professional real estate department. Both are Board Certified Real Estate Lawyers by The Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education. Our real estate lawyers represent buyers and sellers throughout the negotiation and purchase processes with comprehensive services including:

There are many potential pitfalls in property transactions. Whether you are buying your dream house, selling units in a condominium development, striking a deal for a restaurant or liquidating an estate, you need legal representatives who are informed about all applicable laws and diligent about researching the particulars of your transaction.

What remedies are available for a breach of a real estate contract?

Many clients wonder what happens if they execute a real estate contract and the other party violates the terms. Naturally, the remedy depends on the nature of the breach. Contract remedies include:

• Declaratory judgment — When parties disagree about what the language of a contract obligates them to do, they can go to court and get a declaration as to the meaning of the language.
• Reformation — When the court believes that the language of the contract does not accurately reflect what the parties promised, the court can rewrite the contract to reflect the intended agreement.
• Damages — A breaching party is liable for any foreseeable losses to the nonbreaching party that a violation of the contract causes. This remedy requires the nonbreaching party to prove actual losses before being compensated.
• Liquidated damages — Real estate contracts often contain a schedule of payments a breaching party must make to compensate the nonbreaching party if there’s a failure to perform. The nonbreaching party only has to prove non-performance, not actual damages. However, the amount of liquidated damages cannot be so onerous that it goes beyond reasonable compensation and actually punishes the breach.
• Specific performance — This remedy may be appropriate when a seller reneges on a deal. Since real estate is a unique commodity, a court is more likely to order a seller to perform under the contract (i.e. deliver the parcel to the buyer), than if the contract were for the sale of a generic item.

Our attorneys strive to achieve creative solutions to all real estate contract disputes.

Contact our Real Estate Attorneys for legal services on the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches

At McCarthy, Summers, Wood, Norman, Melby & Schultz, P.A., Board Certified Attorneys oversee our Real Estate services. We capably assist buyers, sellers and developers in commercial and residential real estate transactions and litigation. For assistance anywhere along the Treasure Coast, contact the firm online or call us at 772-286-1700.

"Mr. McCarthy is the most amazing attorney!  We were having great difficulty selling our home and he walked me through the entire process of sub diving our property so we could break even.  Without his help I would have lost at least $100,000 because everyone wanted our back 1/2 acre property lot for free.!  I am beyond grateful for all of his helpful office staff who made the process so easy.  Most importantly it was extremely affordable as it was an expected flat rate fee.  I will use him again for the other sale of the property Lot!  I highly recommend him without any reservations!"
–Jo Jo, 5.0 Rating ★★★★★ Review From Google

"I worked with Nicola Melby, and she was fantastic! It's a flat fee of $350 to do estate planning and a will -- this includes as many visits/phone calls/drafts as it takes to get the documents just as you want (it only took one draft for me to be happy!). All parts of the documents were thoroughly explained to me and all my questions happily answered. Highly recommended!"
–Allison, 5.0 Rating ★★★★★ Review From Yelp

"Steven Wood is the consummate professional. The staff is supportive and timely.... From creating a plan to executing the estate, traversing probate, and defending challenges the support and service from Steven and the firm was exemplary!"
–5.0 Rating ★★★★★ Review From Lawyers.com