How a Real Estate Attorney Can Help You Buy or Sell a Home

When you are making one of the largest financial transactions of your life, you want all the help you can get, including legal help. While a real estate agent helps sellers prepare their homes for sale to get the best price and helps buyers locate a new home and negotiate a good deal, the assistance of a real estate attorney is crucial when it comes to these important areas:

The Purchase Contract

The purchase contract is the formal written agreement for the sale and purchase of a home. If there is one piece of paper that is the most important in the entire process, it’s purchase contract. Within the written contract, important issues are agreed upon by both parties, including:

• The purchase price and the escrow deposit terms,
• The inspection period and any obligations to make repairs prior to closing,
• Financing contingencies and what happens if the buyer is unable to obtain a loan,
• Specific provisions regarding the parties’ rights if there is a death before title is transferred,
• Seller disclosures and what the seller is required to inform the buyer of with regard to the condition of the property,
• The allocation of closing and title-related costs,
• And much more.

Having an experienced real estate attorney by your side helps ensure the purchase contract protects your interests and clearly spells out your rights and responsibility under the contract.

Title or Survey Issues

Once the purchase contract is signed, it is necessary to conduct a title search and insure your interest in the title to the property. An experienced attorney will review the title search and offer an expert opinion, explain the title exceptions and title insurance details. So many questions can arise during this part of the process, such as:

• Is the legal description correct?
• Are there issues with adjoining owners or previous owners of the property?
• Are there restrictions or agreements put in place by the previous owner that will affect the new property owner?
• Is there a lien or code violation on the property that must be resolved prior to closing?
• Can you conduct your business out the house?

The guidance of an experienced real estate attorney at this point in the transaction can avoid expensive mistakes. Your attorney will provide expert counsel regarding existing title or lien issues. Your lawyer will also handle the review of the survey map of the property to identify issues that could lead to future problems, and will be able to advise you whether or not it would be appropriate for you to accept title in each specific instance.

Potential Tax Consequences

There could be tax consequences related to the transfer of property no matter which side of the sale you are on. For instance, is the seller a foreign national subject to withholding taxes under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act? Who is paying for the property taxes for that year and are appropriate credits being given at closing? Who is responsible under the contract terms for the Florida transfer/documentary stamp taxes? These are important questions best answered by an experienced real estate attorney.