Closing with Confidence, Clear Legal Insight for Central Florida Real Estate Deals

Chelsea Metka takes on one of the most common do-it-yourself tasks in Florida real estate: transferring a home to a family member. A parent adds an adult child to the deed, or a couple moves the house into a trust using an online form. Later, a tax bill or a letter from the Department of Revenue shows the homestead exemption is gone or documentary stamp taxes are due. Chelsea walks through each Florida deed type, from quitclaim to lady bird deeds, and explains why a recorded deed is so hard to undo.

She also covers how an...

Chelsea Metka welcomes back Eric Putt, branch manager at Waterstone Mortgage, to tackle a question that lands in her inbox on a near-weekly basis: does the spouse have to sign? A husband's name sits alone on the deed. Does his wife still have to sign the mortgage? Chelsea and Eric dig into that exact scenario, and the answer comes down to Florida's homestead protections, which extend rights to a non-owner spouse regardless of who holds title.

Chelsea and Eric break down the difference between the mortgage and the promissory note, why signing one doesn't always mean taking...

Closing with Confidence welcomes Eric Putt, branch manager with Waterstone Mortgage in Winter Park, for a conversation on financing a home purchase without the surprises that derail deals late in the process. Eric walks through the assistance programs buyers overlook, including Hometown Heroes, and clears up the confusion around what actually counts as a first-time homebuyer under Florida versus conventional guidelines.

He also details the red flags lenders watch for between loan approval and clear to close, from untraceable cash deposits to buy now, pay later withdrawals that never show up on a credit report. With more...

Private lending is a fastest-growing path to funding real estate deals across Central Florida, and Chelsea Metka breaks down what makes those transactions work, and what makes them collapse. She walks through who's actually funding these loans, why banks are leaving gaps that private investors are stepping in to fill, and the legal documents that separate a protected lender from an exposed one.

Chelsea covers promissory notes, mortgages, personal guarantees, and the paperwork lenders skip at their own risk. She digs into Florida's usury cap, the danger of an unrecorded mortgage, and why construction loans demand a...

Chelsea Metka opens up about the questions buyers rarely think to ask before choosing a title company, and the answers could save thousands at closing. Two companies can charge the same title insurance premium and still leave a buyer with wildly different settlement fees. Chelsea walks through why requesting a settlement statement before signing a contract matters, what a title examiner actually searches for, and why she avoids relying on a prior policy during a title search.

She also breaks down Schedule B-2, the exceptions buyers have just five days to challenge, and clears up a common...

Title insurance shows up on almost every closing statement, but most buyers have no idea what they're actually paying for. Chelsea Metka breaks down what the policy covers, why it protects against past defects instead of future risk, and why the one-time premium works differently than any other insurance product buyers own.

Chelsea walks through the split between owner's and lender's policies, explains why skipping owner's coverage almost always costs buyers more in the end, and unpacks Florida's promulgated rate system, the state-mandated pricing table that keeps premiums identical no matter which company issues the policy. She...

Commercial leases operate by their own rules, and getting them wrong costs real money. Chelsea Metka breaks down what separates a commercial lease from residential rentals, why Florida statute leaves most of the negotiating power to the parties themselves, and where landlords and tenants most often trip up before they ever sign.

The conversation covers triple net versus gross lease structures, what actually falls under CAM charges, and why an option to purchase differs sharply from a right of first refusal. Chelsea also walks through real situations from her practice, including a landlord who lost negotiating leverage...

Commercial real estate closes on a different clock, with a different rulebook, and a lot more moving parts. In this episode, Chelsea Metka sits down with Eileen O'Hara, Metka Law Firm's firm administrator, who sees every transaction from the inside out, to answer the questions buyers, sellers, agents, and lenders ask most. Together they walk through what separates commercial closings from residential ones, why timelines can stretch to 120 days or longer, and how issues like zoning, environmental phases, and entity structure can reshape a deal.

Chelsea breaks down each stage from letter of intent through post-closing, covering...

Closing day looks simple from the outside. Sign the papers, get the keys. But the process running underneath that moment is where deals survive or fall apart.

In this episode, Chelsea Metka walks through the full arc of what happens after everyone signs, from lender authorization and wire verification to e-recording with the county. She covers the real differences between cash and financed closings, why FSBO transactions tend to collapse during the inspection period, and how commercial deals operate on an entirely different timeline than residential ones. She also addresses what surprises buyers who haven't closed in...

Real estate closings confuse almost everyone. Buyers show up expecting keys. Sellers expect a check. Neither happens the moment the paperwork is signed, and that gap between expectation and reality is exactly what Chelsea Metka, founder of the Metka Law Firm, breaks down in this episode.

Chelsea walks through the full closing process, from contract execution to post-closing wires and recorded documents. She covers what happens during intake and processing, why title commitments require careful review, what Schedule B-2 actually means for a buyer, and how tools like surveys, municipal lien searches, and estoppel certificates protect everyone...

Real estate closings cost buyers and sellers far more than they expect, and most of that money walks out the door because of myths. In this episode, Chelsea Metka breaks down the most common and costly misconceptions she sees at the closing table, from what real estate agents are actually authorized to do, to why cash buyers need title insurance more than financed buyers do.

Chelsea covers title insurance, documentary stamp taxes, homestead exemptions, CDD fees, and the builder contracts that quietly put buyers at a disadvantage before a single negotiation begins.

For anyone currently...

Most people assume hiring an attorney means paying more. Chelsea Metka, board-certified real estate attorney and founder of the Metka Law Firm, sets that record straight in this episode of Closing with Confidence. She breaks down what actually happens between contract and closing, why survey reviews catch more than boundary lines, and how a missed tax proration clause can cost a buyer thousands after the keys change hands.

This episode covers the difference between attorney-led firms and traditional title companies, what out-of-state buyers consistently get wrong about Florida closings, and why rapid growth in Central Florida is...

In this episode of Closing with Confidence, Chelsea Metka breaks down one of the most misunderstood aspects of Florida real estate — the difference between using a title company and hiring a real estate attorney. While Florida doesn't legally require an attorney at closing, Chelsea makes a compelling case for why skipping one could be a costly mistake, from overlooked zoning risks on million-dollar properties to title defects buried in easement language that most title companies never even look for.

Chelsea pulls back the curtain on what title companies actually do — and more importantly, what they don't do — includ...

In this debut episode of Closing with Confidence, Chelsea Metka — founder of the Metka Law Firm — shares the story behind her path into real estate law, from growing up immersed in her father's development and homebuilding world to building a firm rooted in precision, integrity, and client empowerment. She reflects on how early experiences shaped her understanding of what property ownership truly means to people, and why that drives her work every day.

Chelsea opens up about what it takes to navigate Central Florida's fast-moving, high-stakes real estate market — including the costly mistakes she sees most often, what r...

Closing With Confidence is the real estate law podcast from The Metka Law Firm—built for buyers, sellers, agents, landlords, and tenants who want deals done fast, clean, and without surprises. Each episode delivers practical guidance on contracts, timelines, costs, title/closing questions, and the real-world issues that can derail a transaction—so you can move from offer to closing with confidence.

You’ll also hear straight talk on the common mistakes we see in the Central Florida market: inexperienced representation, misaligned incentives, and professionals operating outside their wheelhouse. Our goal is simple: replace confusion with clarity—and help...