Hiring a Real Estate Attorney

During the process of buying investment property, hiring a real estate attorney to act on your behalf can be money that is well spent indeed.

Since the purchase of real estate will probably amount to the largest financial investment you'll ever make, it only makes sense to have a trained legal expert protecting your best interests during the transaction. A wise philosophy to adopt is that it is much less costly when paying an attorney to "keep you out of trouble" than it is to pay an attorney to "get you out of trouble".

The Real Estate Attorney's Role

The role that your RE attorney will play in representing you as a buyer can depend on the individual circumstances involving the purchase transaction. But generally, the attorney's role will be to draft and/or review any documents that are necessary to execute the real estate sales transaction.

Also, your attorney should represent you at the real estate closing to review all closing documents and ensure that all terms of the purchase and sales contract are performed.

Steps for Hiring a Qualified RE Attorney

To locate a qualified RE attorney in your area, first get recommendations from friends and family members. This could be the fastest and easiest method.

However, if this proves unproductive, then it's time to let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages of the phone book and/or internet search engines. Check for local listings under "real estate lawyers" or "real estate attorneys". Pick at least three from the list and ask each one the following questions regarding proposed representation for the purchase of investment property…

• What services will they perform and for what fee?

• What is the charge for reading documents and giving advice on them?

• What is the charge for representing you at the closing?

• Will the attorney take on the role of a "closing agent" and represent any other party to the transaction in addition to you? In this situation, the attorney would also represent the seller, so your complete interests may not be served.

So, to protect your best interests when buying investment property, it pays to hire a RE attorney as an "insurance policy" against making costly mistakes.

For more information about hiring a RE attorney, please visit The Landlord's Library book collection. It's the ultimate, one-stop source for practical, comprehensive information on the entire subject of residential landlording.

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