Especially in the area of residential real estate, many transactions are completed using standardized forms and templates. However, even these documents may contain vague or unclear terms that can result in costly complications.
Experienced Attorney
A qualified real estate attorney can draft a sales agreement and review financial records, ensuring that all wrinkles are ironed out before closing. In fact, some states require a closing attorney to close a real estate transaction, for this very purpose.
A real estate attorney can offer expert advice in matters of property deeds and title, assess tax liability, and prepare transfer-of-title documents, lease contracts, and mortgage contracts.
Real Estate Attorney
The buying and selling of real estate is one of those areas where you have many experts working to help you out at different points in the process. A common thought process that people may have is do I need an attorney to help me with my real estate transaction.
The answer is that it does not hurt to start a conversation with an attorney so that when the need does pop up then your attorney is up to speed and ready to help you. Problems do arise where the buyers and sellers agreed on one thing verbally but failed to capture it all in writing.
1) By having an attorney check to make sure what is house key chain with keys being agreed to with the purchase offer is in the contract you reduce the chance of a lawsuit ruining your chances of completing the deal.
2) By trying to save money and using canned purchase offer language you could be missing crucial requirements that prevent you from using an inspection as a reason to walk away from a home purchase.
You may have an inspection performed on the home you are about to purchase but when you find out the foundation has major issues, if your purchase offer language was not correctly drafted you may still find yourself in a contract to purchase that home with the problems and all.
Certainly you don’t have to close on the home, but the home seller can also turn around and sue you for failing to complete the terms of the contract.
Selling & Purchasing Homes
Buying or selling a home, an investment property, or a piece of commercial real estate is a major financial transaction, so it’s important to have confidence in the process. Experts suggest choosing a real estate lawyer who has specific real estate law experience.
Ideally, the person should be tech-savvy and easy to reach by phone or email. It’s also wise to choose a real estate lawyer who takes the time to answer any questions you have, and is willing to explain the ins and outs of transactions in a patient, informative manner.
Even if an attorney isn’t needed, legal representation ensures that both parties are adequately protected. A real estate lawyer can assist with the title search, review legal disclosures regarding the property’s condition, and assess weather-related issues, such as flood zones.
A lawyer will ensure that taxes and transfer fees are properly calculated and that the sales contract spells out all relevant details and contingencies. An effective representation can protect the buyer and seller from lawsuits and third-party claims.
With the large sums of money involved in real estate it is always best to discuss your plans and needs with a real estate attorney ahead of time. By establishing a relationship with your real estate attorney before an immediate need arises you are ensuring that your attorney knows your goals and can step in when needed to deliver timely input.
Whether you are selling, buying or leasing commercial space the protections afforded sellers, buyers and tenants in the commercial real estate area are much less than those found in residential real estate transactions.
Real Estate Legal Process
Having an expert real estate attorney review leases or purchase agreements for you ensures you are not unknowingly giving up rights or becoming obligated for something more than you intend to.
Also by having an attorney relationship with men in ties with hard hats looking at construction plans developed ahead of time should the need arise for a quick legal review due to time tight frames involved your attorney should be able to provide you input pretty quickly.
The facts and circumstances surrounding undisclosed home problems need to be explored further in order to determine if there is legal liability. If you as the buyers did not know about the problems and would not be able to learn of the problems when you were getting ready to buy the home this leaves it upon the sellers to disclose if they know about the issue.
The types of seller failure to disclose issues you should discuss with a real estate attorney include mold contamination, water damage issues, foundation and structural issues, roof issues, and more. Especially where the problems are major and should have been disclosed but were not then sellers can be held liable for their lack of disclosure.
Even worse a court can order punitive damages be paid by the sellers for their failure to disclose or a court could undo the purchase transaction and force the sellers to take back the home and return all monies to the buyers.