No law requires you to hire a real estate agent when you sell a house or buy a house. Instead of using a real estate agent whose commission can deplete up to 6% of the home’s sales price, sell home using lawyer assistance. My service makes sense if you have a buyer lined up.
If you’re buying or selling real estate, you may have heard you should hire a real estate attorney. “Should” is a squishy term, though. Do you need to hire a real estate attorney at all?
Sell home using lawyer instead of an agent to save considerable cash and preserve your equity. For Sale By Owner – Selling a house without a real estate agent is called a FSBO (pronounced “fizzbo”).
On the other hand, real estate agents are not licensed to provide legal advice. This means they cannot answer a legal question, even if they know the answer, without breaking the law. An agent could potentially lose their real estate license if they tried to practice law.
If any of the above scenarios apply to your situation, then hiring an attorney may be strongly beneficial. If none of these scenarios apply, then you may be fine to use your real estate agent's knowledge and expertise to take you through to closing.
While some states require that the parties to a real estate sales contract bring attorneys to the closing, this is not the law in California. A seller can consult with a real estate attorney however, and there are several circumstances in which this can be a good idea.
The real estate commission is usually the biggest fee a seller pays — historically somewhere between 5 percent to 6 percent of the sale price. So, if you sell your house for $300,000, say, you could end up paying $18,000 in commissions. The commission is split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent.
Closing costs are paid according to the terms of the purchase contract made between the buyer and seller. Usually the buyer pays for most of the closing costs, but there are instances when the seller may have to pay some fees at closing too.
When selling a house when do you get the deposit? The deposit which is put down by the buyer at exchange won't be received by the seller until completion. Completion is the last part of the 'moving house process', where the full funds are sent over, the seller moves out and the buyer gets the keys and moves in.
An attorney helps you protect your investment and assets while ensuring you’re conducting your side of the transaction legally — which can prevent costly missteps. Real estate attorneys are required in many states, but even if you aren’t legally required to use an attorney while selling, it can be a good idea.
Real estate attorneys help oversee home sales, from the moment the contract is signed through the negotiating period (aptly called the “attorney review”) to closing. A seller’s attorney reviews sales contracts, communicates terms in a professional manner and attends closings to prevent mishaps. Selling a home is a complex process ...
How much does a real estate attorney cost? How much you’ll pay for real estate attorney fees depends on your market and how involved they are in the transaction, but they typically charge a flat rate of $800 to $1,200 per transaction. Some attorneys charge hourly, ranging from $150 to $350 per hour.
An attorney can help you navigate the complexities. Estate sale: If you inherited the home you’re selling, hiring an attorney to sort through ownership documents can ease the burden, which is especially helpful when you’re grieving the loss of a family member.
Title company: A representative of the title company is responsible for underwriting the title insurance and transferring the clean title of the home to the buyer.
Inspector: The inspector is hired by the buyer. Their job is to make sure the buyer knows about everything that may need to be repaired on the home. Sellers also sometimes hire an inspector to do a pre-inspection so they can make any necessary repairs before putting the house on the market.
In 21 states and the District of Columbia, attorneys are legally required as part of the closing process. Attorney-required states include: As a best practice, if the other party in your transaction has a lawyer representing them and supporting their best interests, you should too.
One of the best reasons to hire a real estate agent is that the sellers are likely to use their own agent— and you want to keep that agent from taking over the process. In fact, the seller's agent might pressure you to let him or her represent both seller and buyer, in a " dual agency " relationship that primarily benefits the seller.
What the Law Says. Every state has its own set of real estate laws. For the most part, a real estate agent's help is not legally required, though agents can help you with tasks that border on legal ones, such as preparing a home purchase contract. In a few states, however, such as New York and Massachusetts, only a lawyer is allowed to prepare ...
However, legal issues might arise that your real estate agent can't answer. In that case, you'll need an attorney's help. Although good agents know a lot about the negotiating and contracting part of the process, they can't make judgments on legal questions. For example, what if your prospective new home has an illegal in-law unit ...
Except in states where it's mandated, an ordinary real estate transaction doesn't require an attorney's help. By now, real estate transactions are so standardized that most people in your state will use the exact same purchase contract, just filling in a few blanks.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information. It's no secret that real estate agents earn high commissions. Although the commission is usually paid by the seller, the cost may be indirectly passed on to you. And real estate lawyers charge exorbitant hourly rates.
In a few states, however, such as New York and Massachusetts, only a lawyer is allowed to prepare the home purchase documents, perform a title search, and/or close the deal.
Real estate agents normally work on commission, not salary. They receive their slice only after your home search is over, the contract negotiated, and the transaction complete. (In many cases, they end up doing a lot of work for nothing, perhaps because the buyers lost interest or can't close the deal.)
While lawyers typically charge a few hundred dollars an hour, a brief consultation with a lawyer is generally the way to go. It's much better for a buyer to obtain true legal advice than to try to squeeze it out of their agent just because they don't want to pay a lawyer.
Remember this: It is not that the buyer's agent does not want to help, it's that they can't give legal advice. Additionally, if they violated the law and expressed a legal opinion, a buyer could not rely on it anyway.
Real estate agents are not licensed to provide legal advice and cannot answer legal questions, even if they know the answer, without breaking the law. It's much better for you as a buyer to get true legal advice than to try to squeeze it out of your agent just because you don't want to pay a lawyer.
However, real estate agents can't advise a buyer to sue the seller nor guarantee the deposit will be returned. If the agent knows the buyer's deposit is at risk, they might share a few situations about the way their past clients handled these matters.
On the other hand, real estate agents are not licensed to provide legal advice. This means they cannot answer a legal question, even if they know the answer, without breaking the law. Note. An agent could potentially lose their real estate license if they tried to practice law.
However, real estate agents can't advise a buyer to sue the seller nor guarantee the deposit will be returned.
A real estate agent’s obligations to his or her client are somewhat limited, and he or she may not necessarily be working in your best interest. For example, a real estate agent can represent both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction, or could even be the buyer, which obviously could leave you in ...
You can probably infer that a real estate attorney is better equipped to provide you with legal guidance than a real estate agent is. Agents can fill out forms, but they can neither draft forms nor modify existing forms. They also cannot provide legal advice regarding those “standardized forms”—only an attorney can do that.
Lastly, many transactions may not require a realtor or real estate agent to sell or help buy a home. This especially applies to “For Sale By Owner” arrangements, owner finance arrangements, and other direct buyer-to-seller or seller-to-buyer transactions.
Attorneys, on the other hand, have a very clear duty to their clients. The real estate lawyer-client relationship provides for a high degree of privacy and confidentiality, which does not exist in a real estate agent-client relationship. A real estate attorney will be representing you and only you in the buying or selling of a house, ...
A real estate lawyer is licensed to practice law and specializes in real estate transactions. A real estate lawyer is familiar with all aspects of the home purchase process and can represent buyers, sellers or lenders. In states where a lawyer is required to be present at closing, it’s possible that the lawyer is there solely to represent ...
Here are some situations that are unusual and might require an attorney’s advice and negotiating skills: You’re buying a home that is part of a special type of sale, such as an estate sale, short sale, auction or purchase from a bank. You’re purchasing a home that’s in another state.
Your timeline for closing on the property could be affected by the sale of your own home or issues largely outside of your control, such as unexpected lender delays. Inspection. A home inspection can uncover many problems, and a seller and buyer could end up negotiating on who will pay for repairs.
Closing. The moment you’ve been waiting for— closing on a home sale or purchase —often involves dozens of pages of legal documents to review. A lawyer can help both the seller and buyer navigate the review, which can be especially intimidating and confusing to a first-time homebuyer.
This is important because when you’re in the middle of a potentially contentious negotiation that needs to be resolved quickly, you’ll want the lawyer to be available to advise you and negotiate with the other party.
It can help you avoid potential problems down the line by making the contingencies as favorable to you as possible. The contract is the most important document in the home sale process, and it includes several negotiable issues. Some of the most important issues in the purchase contract involve: Timing. Your timeline for closing on the property ...
Although real estate agents usually play a central role in preparing purchase contracts, a lawyer could provide a review of the purchase contract terms. What’s more, real estate agents are generally limited to filling out contract templates, rather than drafting them from scratch.
You’re the heir or executor of a property whose owner is now deceased. You’re selling a house with an uncooperative partner. You have judgments or liens on the property.
Reasons to hire a real estate attorney even if it’s optional 1 You’re an out-of-town buyer. 2 You’re buying a property that is a short sale or bank-owned. 3 You’re buying a property that is part of an estate sale. 4 You’re buying a commercial property. 5 You’re buying a property that could potentially have some structural issues. 6 You’re buying a property in a problematic area such as a flood zone or areas with adverse conditions (tornado-prone, radon, toxicity levels, etc.).
As part of agents’ licensing education, they’re taught and tested on real estate contracts used within their state, many of which also require continuing education courses and/or certifications on subjects such as ethics, buyer’s agency, distressed property sales, and more.