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Posted over 7 years ago

​How to find the right real estate attorney for you.

How to find the right real estate attorney for you.

In my area I have hired no less than thirteen local real estate attorneys. This does not include real estate attorneys that I have dealt with across the closing table while they represented the other part in a transaction. So I thought I would address a question that I get all the time. How do I find a good real estate attorney?

Let’s start this conversation off with a bit of truth. All lawyers are not created equal. Everyone who graduates law school and passes the bar exam is allowed to call themselves a lawyer. This is true for the top of the class and the guy who barely passed his exams. Trust me, you do not want to hire the bottom feeder. The problem is that the bottom feeder is not going to come out and confess that he has little to no idea what he is doing, so how do you sort through the chumps to find the champ?

For starters I want a lawyer with a little seasoning. Even the brightest minds need time to learn their craft. I try to avoid lawyers who are less than 40 years old. I don’t want them learning on my job. I have the same feeling with contractors but that is another article.

I also rely heavily on other investors. I want the lawyer that other investors use because that lawyer has already been tested on someone else’s dime. There is an aspect of social proof that comes with lawyers. You want one that other people have used and one who people have good things to say about their work.

I really want a lawyer that invests in real estate. It amazes me that there are real estate lawyers who do not invest in real estate but sadly most of them do not. I want a lawyer who understands my deals and how I structure them. This is especially true for me because I do a lot of creative and odd deals, and it really frustrates me when I have to explain the legal bits to my lawyer. I also like lawyers who invest because I don’t want to be their sole source of income. I find that they don’t charge me as much but that may be unique to my life.

Let me tell you about the lawyer that I use for most of my deals. Her and her husband are partners in their firm. They have two other real estate lawyers that they employ. They are both fortyish and maybe pushing fifty. So they have experience. They own a settlement company, so I know they can close my deal or at least fix the problem so that it can close. They are fantastic with title problems. The both invest in single family houses, so they know what I want. They even send deals my way sometimes. They also happen to represent a couple of the local banks in foreclosures, so they get the inside scoop on houses before the sheriff sales. At a very basic level they have become a one stop shop for me. I know they are super rare and it is hard to find a legal time like the one that I use. It took me more than a decade to find them. You are not likely to find a team like mine but let the serve as the template to strive for.

The best place to start your real estate lawyer search is always your local REIA club. If you do not have a local club, then start a meet-up and ask other investors for suggestions.

I hope this helps

Josh 


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