Real estate lawyers and rates

[Kelly Conrad]

Hey everyone! I just contacted a Real Estate lawyer that was recommended to me, but her hourly rate was $250 (and no minimum). For now, I just need someone to look over our tenant documents and make sure they're all legal for Minnesota, but eventually I may need to call on them if I need to evict someone. $250 just seemed a little high for our requirements, so I was hoping to see what others are paying to see if that is the going rate or if I should be looking at other lawyers. I appreciate your responses!

[Levi T.]

That's lower mid range, very normal. Most my attornies start at $350 on average, and go up to around $500 an hour, depending their experience and the topic. What I would lookout for is that they know real estate law and contract law, on the topic. The old catch 22 that gets me a lot, is that I hit up my main attorney and they drag in 2 other attornies for their expertise. I end up paying 3 attornies $350 per hour to do something for me. I've watched a contract get drafted, that I expected to pay a few thousand for, turn into 10k because of stuff like that. If it's a small firm you likely wont run into that, at $250 an hour I'm willing to bet the attorney is a one person show. If they are a real estate attorney, it does not mean they know landlord laws, etc.