Real Estate Attorney Benefit Not Cost in Home Purchase or Sale
By Mark Nash
The costs
associated with buying or selling a home can add up quickly. Many
buyers and sellers opt not to retain an attorney to save the several
hundred dollars it costs to have one review the contract, deed
and title, respond to inspection issues, and make sure the contract
is performed
according to its terms. The cost of an attorney is one that should
not
be eliminated in an effort to save money, in the end the lack
of legal representation in the sale or purchase of a home could cost
you
much
more than the money you saved.
Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home (2005)
offers tips on why you should retain an experienced real estate attorney
the next time you buy or sell your largest asset. It is common in some
areas not to have an attorney involved in a real estate transaction.
Consider the legal education or experience the closing or title agent,
real estate agent or brokerage has relating to your legal interest
in the title, deed, survey and other documents need to perform the
successful purchase or sale of your new home.
-Retain an attorney who specializes in residential real estate. You
might know an attorney who is a friend or relative, but if they specialize
in corporate law or litigation, they might not be familiar with local
practices regarding residential real estate contracts. Find an experienced
attorney who specializes in real estate contracts, they can help educate
you on what's in your best interest and what's customary from contract
to closing.
-Acquire a blank copy of the local real estate contract and review
before you sign one. Most local real estate boards have a form contract
that has blanks for contract price, terms and conditions. You will
feel more confident if you review a real estate contract long before
you are asked to sign one. Ask your real estate agent for a blank contract
after your first meeting. If you have questions about the contract
ask your attorney to review it with you.
-Have your attorney review all real estate contracts that you sign.
After both parties have executed a real estate contract, deliver a
legible copy to your attorney promptly. Most contracts allow for a
attorney review period of at least five business days. During this
time your attorney can review and request certain changes to the contract
or if need be void the contract.
-Request a title insurance policy. Your attorney will request and
carefully review a title insurance policy from the property seller.
This policy insures you against any prior clouds on the title. The
chain or history of title will be provided and will be reviewed by
both sides attorneys to look for any possible irregularities before
the title insurance is delivered. The buyers attorney can request that
questionable items be removed or insured over by the title insurance
provider.
-Confirm and update legal descriptions on your property. This is one
of the most important reasons to retain an attorney. Legal descriptions
that are recorded in title and deed government records should accurately
state the current and updated legal description of your property. These
descriptions are difficult for lay people to read and take an experienced
legal eye to catch mistakes which could impact the property your buying
or selling.
-Review property survey. Your attorney should receive and review the
property survey before closing or escrow to check for encroachments
(when an adjoining property intrudes on yours), easements (the limited
right of another to use your property) and verify parcel or lot dimensions.
-Require your attorney to attend closing or escrow. From contract
to closing is a marathon and the closing is the finish line. Your attorney
should attend the closing or escrow to verify the smooth transfer of
your property. Last minute glitches with possession, final walk-through's
and mortgages need the finesse of an experienced real estate attorney.
-Review post-closing documents. Most attorneys want to review all
recorded documents related to the sale of a property after they are
recorded, to verify that they were recorded as agreed to at the closing.
These documents included the title, deed, mortgages, and satisfaction
of mortgages.
-Administrate and evaluate problems in contract to closing period
. The time between contract and closing can include some problems that
only an experienced real estate attorney can respond to adequately.
Unreasonable requests after a property inspection, weak mortgage ability
of the buyer, missed earnest money payments and quite a few additional
issues can bog down a contract after acceptance. An attorney that has
handled and most likely seen it all in real estate contracts, is your
best asset when a contract get bogged down.
Mark Nash's fourth real estate book, "1001 Tips for Buying and
Selling a Home" (2005), and working as a real estate broker in
Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective
which has been featured on ABC-TV, CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV,
CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor’s
Weekly, Dow Jones Market Watch, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Realty
Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.
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