For most of us, the experience of buying or selling real estate, either an attractive residential property for a family home or a ideal commercial property for a business enterprise, will represent the most substantial monetary transaction in which we participate during our lives.
Compare the purchase of your home with the purchase of a new car, a widescreen television or home entertainment center, a swimming pool, pontoon or yatch, nothing measures up to the magnitude of the dollars, risks, and rewards inherent in a sale or purchase of real estate.
And, the most amazing thing might be the number of people who choose to participate in that significant monetary event without the guidance, advice and benefit of a lawyer experienced in real estate transactions.
Don't let that person be you.
Providing Valuable Services
In representing you in a real estate transaction, your lawyer will be concerned about the best interests of only one person: you. If you are the seller, your lawyer will protect your interests as the seller. If you are the buyer, your lawyer will protect your interests as the buyer. Those interests, although not usually adversarial, are not identical and they have many important dissimilarities.
Zoning. Building and use restrictions. Easements. Liens. Title insurance. Mortgages. Installment land contracts. Warranty and quitclaim deeds. Jurats. Affidavits. Leasehold interests. Encroachments. Warranty. Disclaimer.
If you can define those terms and phrases, congratulations. You should have a law degree. But, if you are like most people and you are unable to define those important real estate terms, you need a professional who is familiar with the jargon and understands the impact of the laws and rules that govern real estate transactions.
Be Smart: Protect Yourself
Make the smart and sensible choice: contact a lawyer to assist you if you are on the verge of buying or selling real estate.
Certainly, the realtor, title insurer, and bank loan officer are professionals who rarely intend to mislead or misguide either the seller or buyer in a residential or commercial real estate transaction. But, they are who they are and their job is not to represent the legal interests of either the buyer or seller. They lack the experience of a lawyer, and they do not have a lawyer's knowledge of real estate laws, government rules and regulations, and local court decisions that effect ownership and use of real estate.
Hire a lawyer to review the documents, explain their meaning and purpose, so you will understand and appreciate what you sign at a closing. Your lawyer will keep a watchful eye on the transaction to assure that your legal interests are protected, allowing you to walk away from the closing without being confused, dumbfounded, fleeced, or sued. Paying a lawyer will be a dollar spent wisely.
