Archive for the ‘Legal’ Category
Above all, be sure you’re represented by an attorney. A home is probably the most important and certainly the most expensive purchase most of us will ever make. There are many opportunities to make mistakes, and some of those mistakes can be costly. It’s silly not to spend the relatively small amount of additional money needed to hire a lawyer when that’s the only way to minimize the chances of something going wrong on your end of the deal.
It’s true that you may be working with a knowledgeable broker. But as I’ve pointed out already, the broker in most cases represents the seller. It’s also true that you’ll be required to pay the fee for the lender’s attorney, if there is one. But that attorney will represent the lender’s interests, and the lender’s interests won’t always be the same as yours. Unless you’re represented by an attorney of your own, there won’t be anyone else involved in this process whose sole responsibility is ensuring that your interests are protected.
Why do you need an attorney if everything is going smoothly? Because a good real-estate attorney should be able to anticipate problems and keep them from developing. It always costs less to avoid trouble than to get out of it.
When should you bring an attorney in? The best time is at the beginning of your negotiations with the seller, before you’ve signed anything that commits you in any way to the transaction.
