Are you thinking of buying or selling a home, or residential real estate for rental and investment purposes? If so, it is important to involve an experienced real estate attorney as early as possible in the process. An attorney can advise you about important items to include in the contract, safeguards that can protect you in case the other party does not live up to their obligations, and about provisions that can furnish you with remedies in case there are problems.
Buying a Home or Rental Property
A title report will be generated by a title company prior to the closing and an experienced attorney is needed to read it and make sure that, as a purchaser, you are actually receiving full ownership of the property you bargained for, free of liens, encroachments, or unexpected easements or restrictions on use.
If you are buying the property partially or entirely to rent it out, there are many legal aspects to being a landlord that an experienced real estate attorney can assist you with, including required lease provisions, handling of security deposits, required disclosures, and many more.
Helping You Through the Paperwork
These days, purchasing a home involves a large amount of paperwork concerning compliance with zoning laws, payoff of water bills, disclosure of known building defects, notification of the presence of possible lead paint hazards, and a variety of transfer tax declarations on the state, county, and local level. An experienced real estate attorney can shepherd you through the entire process and explain anything you need to know about what it all means. An attorney can also make sure that existing mortgages and liens on a property are fully paid off and discharged, and that any new mortgage issued does reflect the interest rate and other fee structure previously promised by the mortgage lender.
The Importance of the Deed
One aspect of the real estate closing process that is extremely important if you are a buyer is the issuing of a new deed to the real estate with your name or the name of you and any co-purchasers (such as a spouse or partner) on it. There are different types of deeds, legally, such as warranty deeds or quit claim deeds, and which is appropriate or available may vary from case to case.
Important also is how you are taking title. There are different ways of doing this, such as being the sole owner, being tenants in common, being joint tenants with the right of survivorship, or tenancy by the entirety for married couples. Each of these may have various implications in the arenas of tax liability, inheritance of the property in the event of death, or the susceptibility of the real estate to claims by creditors. An experienced real estate attorney can advise you as to which method of taking title is most advantageous for your particular circumstances, and what the legal consequences of the choice will be.
Costs for Buyers, Money Received by Sellers
At the closing itself, the title company issues a final closing statement showing credits and debits for both buyer and seller. To most laypeople, this is a very confusing document. An experienced real estate attorney can examine this and pinpoint whether mistakes have been made, making sure that you are not paying more than you should be as a buyer, or not receiving what you are entitled to as a seller. With tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, you need someone who know what they are doing to protect your interest.
Protecting a Seller’s Interests
If you are selling your home or rental property, there are a number of ways that a real estate attorney can protect your interests and make sure that the sale is as beneficial to you as possible. There may be some fees and taxes associated with the closing process that are customarily paid by either the buyer or the seller, but some of them are subject to negotiation, and often an attorney can negotiate on such matters during the attorney approval period following the signing of a contract, and save you some money.
There also, at any real estate closing, are a host of documents that will need to be signed and/or initialed. There is no way that you personally will be able to read all of them in detail in the brief period of time allocated for the closing itself. Your real estate attorney is intimately familiar with these and can quickly let you know if everything is properly done so that it is ok to sign or initial, or is something needs to be changed or corrected.
The Closing Doesn’t Have to be Stressful
With an experienced real estate attorney to guide you, this often stressful process does not have to be stressful at all. With over 20 years of experience as a local and qualified real estate law firm in the Chicago area, we offer what you need. Conveniently located in the Southwest Suburbs close to many expressway exits, with flexible evening and weekend hours available, you should Call Us Now for a no-obligation absolutely Free Confidential In-Person Consultation at (708) 598-5999 fill out the contact form to the right.
