SRQ Magazine | IN CONVERSATION: Real Estate Insight, July/August 2022

WILL MCCOMB

BERLIN PATTEN EBLING PLLC

IN CONVERSATION WITH LOCAL ATTORNEY WILL MCCOMB ON CURRENT TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE INTERVIEW BY WES ROBERTS, EDITED BY BARBIE HEIT

LET’S START WITH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU DO.

WILL MCCOMB: I was born and raised here in Sarasota, Florida. I’ve got a wife, a small child, and another one on the way and we live on Siesta Key. I’m one of the partners at Berlin Patten Ebling, PLLC and I focus on residential transactional and commercial transactional work. Our firm also does transactional estate planning and commercial litigation but we’re most well known for the residential real estate practice.

WHAT GOT YOU INTO THE LEGAL PROFESSION?

At the University of Central Florida, which is where I went to undergraduate school, I was initially studying to become an orthopedic surgeon for a sports team. During that time, I was actually having to go through a major procedure of my own after a football incident. I was looking at that process and decided I didn’t want to be a surgeon anymore and actually pivoted my whole focus into pre-law studies. I became the Chief Justice of the student body at Central Florida and then went on to go to Florida State Law School. I always wanted to get into real estate law. Eventually I found my way back home to practicing what I love.

DESCRIBE YOUR CLIENTS AND HOW YOU ENGAGE WITH THEM.

On the real estate side obviously it’s always a very significant transaction–sometimes the most significant transaction somebody’s going to make could be buying their house. So I like to keep them very well informed throughout the process as to what’s going on. I feel people in general right now are way more informed than ever before because of how much access they have to the internet. Most of the time my clients are always informed, but it’s because I’m telling them when there’s a problem, and then how obviously I was going to fix it. In our case, a lot of times what we’re doing is we’re reviewing documentation that’s being provided or sent in, like title commitments, surveys. You can’t go online and find the answer to that.

FLORIDA HAS A HISTORY OF BOOM AND BUST IN TERMS OF REAL ESTATE. WE HAVE A VERY TEMPESTUOUS REAL ESTATE CLIMATE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?

So two things there. One, what do I think about the current market and how it could be cyclical? We’ve obviously been riding a boom for quite some time. Is there any concern there? In my opinion, no. I’m not concerned. Actually my partners and I are just opening up a location in Bonita Springs. So we’re continuing to invest in the Southwest border of the real estate market. We are still very bullish on it. In April, there were 1,349 closed transactions, which was down 25% from April of last year. But the median sale price was up. It’s at $430,000, which was up 25% on the year prior. Active inventory is also up for April. Overall, it’s still less than a month or just about a month’s supply, which is historically low. So to me, the demand here for our market and the number of transactions that are going to be taking place, I’ve got no reason to believe that’s going to slow down drastically to create any kind of concern.

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO PEOPLE WHO ARE WOR- RIED WHENEVER THERE’S A HOT MARKET THERE’S GOING TO BE A MARKET COLLAPSE?

The 2007-2008 build up and then ultimate market crash, all the contributing factors to that are entirely different than anything we’re seeing right now. So I wouldn’t say that because we had this rush or high increase in pricing and low inventory, similar to that buildup, that all of a sudden the bottom is going to fall out of the market. A lot of that was based on just really bad lending practices. There’s been statutes put into place to counteract that, to make sure that lenders are qualifying borrowers. The Dodd-Frank Act basically came out in the wake of the last mortgage crisis. So in this case, I don’t see any of the same market conditions, other than the fact that the market’s really hot, to be concerned with there being an absolute collapse again. Now, could there be something else that impacts our market like rising inflation, rising interest rates, low inventory? Sure. And I do think there’s going to be an impact. At least at some point, you’re going to see some type of correction nationwide. In our little local Sarasota market, I don’t think that impact is going to be nearly as severe just because of how desirable it is to be here. So if someone’s asking me, “Should I buy right now?” The answer is, if you find something that you like, buy now, as opposed to waiting any longer. As interest rates go up, your buying power is going to go down, so if you’re on the fence and you have the ability, I would pull the trigger now if you can find something.

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOU YOUR ROLE?

As a transactional attorney, I try to stay out of the business side of it. A realtor that can assist with questions about whether or not something is a good deal. As the attorney, my job is to make sure that the contract signed is properly documenting what the client is intending to accomplish, that the closing documents and the property is going to be free of any looms or encumbrances, that you’re basically getting what you anticipated buying. My job is to make sure that the contract’s clearly stated, that there’s no ambiguity or gotchas in the contract.

WITHOUT BEING SPECIFIC, WHAT ARE THE KINDS OF DISPUTES THAT HAPPEN?

Recently, I was reviewing a survey for waterfront property up in the Bradenton area. And in reviewing the survey, I see there’s a gap between the edge of the property line and the waterway. Generally speaking, if you want to have access to the waterfront, there can’t be a gap in where your property starts and the waterfront, the mean high water line begins. If there’s a gap, either because there was a surveyor error, a plot error, or it was intentional. There’s a gap on purpose. Someone else owns that land. In this case, the association, when they were re-plotting all these waterfront lots, they maintained a strip of land in between several homes that was owned by the association itself. But that strip of land being owned by the association and creating that gap basically meant that property owners didn’t have access to the waterfront. So to have what’s called riparian rights, which is the ability to use the waterway, your property has to abut the mean high water line right? If it doesn’t, then you don’t have riparian rights. So in this case, the association maintained them. From a technical standpoint, that property owner couldn’t build a dock, they couldn’t use their boat, they couldn’t cross over the association property to the dock that they had already built. In reviewing the survey, I caught this on behalf of a buyer. We objected and then ultimately the deal ended up falling apart. And I believe that buyer is now still trying to get that resolved with the association. I believe it was done by mistake, not intentional, but at the end of the day, still a major problem that’s got to be resolved. The only way to resolve it is really a deed from the association to the underlying property owners. So, that’s a wild situation where if you don’t have an attorney representing you or reviewing that stuff, it now becomes your problem. As a buyer, you wouldn’t know to look for that. And if you close, now it’s your problem to deal with the association. Not to say that they can’t get it resolved, but it’s a problem.

DO PEOPLE WHO ARE BUYING FROM ANOTHER STATE NEED A LOCAL ATTORNEY WHO UNDERSTANDS THE DISTINC- TIONS THAT ARE HERE?

Florida’s a hybrid state when you’re buying property, which means you can either close with a closing agent, a licensed title agent, or you can close with an attorney, who can also issue a title and insurance policy. So you have options. What I try to explain to people is when you’re buying something like a home or a commercial building, it could be one of the most significant investments that you make. When you look at the pricing and what we’re charging in comparison to a title agency, we’re pretty much on pace or just about the same, but you’re getting the benefit of having an attorney represent you through the transaction. So to me, it’s a no brainer. I do get situations where someone signs a contract, they’re in the process, it’s not going the way they expected, and then they come to me and try to get me to basically put the pieces back together, save the deal, or save the transaction. And at that point, it’s really hard. Once the contract is signed, it becomes really difficult for me to do what I need to do to put that client in the best position possible.The earlier I get involved, the easier it is for me to help. So to answer your question, yeah. I would say, and when you’re buying a piece of property, you should get an attorney involved right away every time. Getting the attorney involved early allows you to make sure the language is drafted the right way. So you’re getting what you expected to get at the close.

YOU’VE BEEN DOING THIS TYPE OF WORK FOR JUST ABOUT TEN YEARS NOW. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE A VERY REWARDING CAREER.

From my perspective, I absolutely love what I do. I think our company is a leader when it comes to handling transactional matters. We are on the forefront of all the latest technologies and making sure that we’re constantly reinvesting into the practice. And as our practice has grown, we’ve been able to continue to serve a broader piece of the market, which is Southwest Florida now. We have locations pretty much from Bonita Springs up to Tampa. And allowing myself to be a part of that development has been very, very rewarding. When I joined, the firm was a very different thing than it is than it is today. It’s been really exciting to see the growth and then continue to ingrain ourselves within the community.

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

WILLIAM C. MCCOMB, ESQ, PARTNER AND SHAREHOLDER, BERLIN PATTEN EBLING:

Will is a partner and shareholder at Berlin Patten Ebling, PLLC. Will focuses his practice in the areas of commercial and residential real estate transactions, including, developer representation, landlord representation, lender representation and purchaser/seller representation. Will has handled complex matters throughout the state of Florida and his transactional experience specifically includes transactions involving shopping centers, industrial/office parks, manufacturing facilities, restaurant chains, convenience stores, gas stations, retail chains, corporate transactions, large and small residential projects, and raw land for development.