Jeffrey P. Smith North Shore Real Estate Law

Law Offices of Jeff Smith

Buying & Selling Residential Real Estate

For many, the purchase or sale of a home is one of the largest and most important legal transactions in their life. Jeff Smith has years of experience in assisting clients to a satisfying closure of real property transactions. The philosophy is threefold:

(1) make sure the deal closes as intended;
(2) save the client unnecessary cost, and
(3) protect the client's interest.

Why Use a Quality Real Estate Attorney? Buyers or sellers are sometimes tempted (or steered) to the cheapest possible lawyer, or, worse yet, advised not to use an attorney at all. This is a dangerous tactic. Real estate sale contracts, riders, listing agreements, and mortgages are binding legal documents. Sloppy and rushed real estate work is a recipe not only for a long and inconvenient closing, but for the growing number of lawsuits over residential sales. Nothing can be worse than when a dream home becomes a legal nightmare, or when a dissatisfied buyer comes back to haunt you. In many communities, the median home price is now well over $200,000, and mortgages routinely obligate the buyer to pay a half-million dollars or more over time. Hiring a professional real estate attorney is a wise investment. In truth, overall home transaction costs are cheaper in states where attorneys are used.

What Should a Real Estate Attorney Do for You? Professional handling of a residential real estate transaction, to protect the client, typically involves the following legal services:

review of the real estate contract(s), addenda, and residential disclosures (required by law). Note that the standard form contract often used has not been drafted with the parties' interests in mind, but to facilitate sales, and that non-lawyers cannot legally advise a buyer or seller on its meaning or recommend language used.
contact with the other party's counsel and contract negotiation as necessary
monitoring home inspection and other deadlines
addressing any issues raised by the home inspection(s)
keeping abreast of all parties' progress in securing mortgages
if representing a seller, obtaining title insurance as required by the contract for sale
if representing a seller, obtaining the survey or condominium association documents as required by the contract for sale
reviewing and dealing with any restrictive covenants
reviewing title commitment policies for accuracy and for issues that may affect closing
negotiating title issues
reviewing the survey or condo association documents for any easement or property issues
interfacing with the brokers, lenders, and underwriters and providing information as needed
scheduling closings
preparing closing documents
calculating amounts necessary to close
attending to payoffs of existing loans and mortgages
attending to necessary municipal regulations, stamps, and water certifications
attending the closing
making sure documents are recorded with county recorder's offices

and, most important

responding to client needs and questions.

What Should Real Estate Legal Fees Cost? Can all the above be on the cheap? If everything is perfect, all the above is not expensive. However, additional, unexpected factors commonly arise in a transaction, including the quality of work done by the attorneys for the other parties, the needs and schedules of the lenders and brokers involved, the demands of the other parties, and unforeseen issues ranging from building defects to financing difficulties. In those situations the party who is poorly represented is at a severe disadvantage. I have seen many transactions where things are not done professionally, or sometimes the tasks are not done at all!

The Law Offices of Jeff Smith refuses to cut corners on a legal transaction this important. One of the largest financial transactions in the average person's life deserves to be done right, done professionally, and done on time.

However, legal fees in residential real estate are only a tiny fraction of the cost. Lately the average sale or purchase with no more than minor problems is running $500-600; if possible we try to do it for less. Typically the hours on a dual real estate transaction (sale of an old home and purchase of a new home) comes to less than 0.5% of the total combined prices; we can offer a cap of 1% regardless of the hours involved (unless there is litigation). Surveys cost approximately $200-300, which we do not mark up.

Normally we do not send out multiple bills on real estate, and simply state the total fees on the closing figure statement. If a sale is involved we receive payment out of the sale proceeds, requiring no out-of-pocket outlay by the seller. However, if you prefer we can bill monthly for legal services rendered and out-of-pocket costs advanced.

What Can The Client Do to Make a Transaction Easier? To facilitate a real estate transaction, assemble the following as soon as possible:

any listing agreement you have
sale contract as soon as you have one (ideally you will discuss this with your attorney before the offer)
documentation of any outstanding mortgages or loans
name, address, phone & fax of your lender
the most recent survey of the property
any deed for the property
the two most recent tax bills for the property
a water bill for the property
information as to any special problems or needs

Title Services. Jeff Smith works directly with agents for Chicago Title, which means obtaining title insurance for you from Chicago's most well-established and accepted title insurer and getting the policy directly from CT&T (who has multiple suburban locations) instead of having to go through another agent. You are not billed for this agency service; CT&T pays agents an agency fee. You have the right to use any insurer you prefer, but I was recommending clients get CT&T title insurance services for many years. Where a client retains this law office for the sale of a home and purchases a CT&T policy through us, we can discount from the total hourly fees.

The above is not intended as a substitute for full legal advice, but only as general information. For legal advice, consult an attorney.

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