Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer When Buying A Home?

Buying a home will be the biggest purchase you make in your lifetime, which is why it is normal to find ways to save money along the way. You may think of not using a real estate lawyer to help handle the transaction for you, but this could be a big mistake in the end. Here are some things a real estate lawyer does that you can benefit from.

Draft Offer Letter With Contingencies

The first legal document you send to the seller is the offer letter. This letter not only states how much you are willing to pay for the home, but all of the ways you can back out of the sale if something is wrong with the home. For instance, you may have a bad inspection that reveals foundation damage, or an appraisal that is much lower than your offer price.

Without a formal legal document that lists contingencies, you could be stuck purchasing the home if you find something wrong with it. If that happens, you would lose your earnest money if you walked away from the house.

Perform A Title Search

You may purchase the home, but that doesn't mean you have a legal right to the property. One problem that a lawyer can help address is determine if there are any existing liens on the home that you need to be aware of. This can happen if a previous owner owes someone money, and the property was listed as collateral and never collected. This often happens when taxes are owed on the property that have not been paid off. A lawyer can discover these problems, make sure they are addressed, and verify the how is free and clear of all liens.

Prepare And Read Over Documentation

The amount of paperwork that needs to be signed on your closing date is staggering. That is why it is worth it to have a lawyer draft all the paperwork so that it is done correctly. They'll also read over all the paperwork before you sign it, and make sure that everything is accurate. For instance, one problem that you may run into is the mortgage provider listing the wrong interest rate on the loan. Fixing these problems by catching it on the paperwork means you do not have to live with the consequences.

Avoid a potential problem with the purchase of your home and work with a real estate lawyer such as Steve Butcher Sr from the start.