Property agents indeed charge high commissions, though the person selling a home pays the amount. However, the seller might pass this cost indirectly to you. Even real estate lawyers charge by the hour. Therefore, the question arises whether you need an attorney to purchase your home. Does hiring an agent make sense? These are some of the questions to ask when you are looking to buy a property.
All states have their real estate laws, and in most of the cases, a real estate agent’s assistance is not necessary. Again, in some states, only an attorney has the right to prepare the property-related documents, including a title search, and for closing the real estate deal.
According to an article published on HuffPost, a real estate attorney helps you to negotiate the chaos associated with legal complications, providing useful insight into the home buying process. So read on to learn more.
Avoid the seller’s agent and work with an attorney
During a home purchase deal, the seller often uses his agent, but you should prevent that agent from interfering with the process. To be candid, the seller’s agent might force you so that he represents both the seller and you, usually called a double agency association, primarily benefiting the property seller.
The unscrupulous seller’s agent keeps things ambiguous so that you do not understand that he is acting for you as well as the seller. That is why you need to work with a real estate attorney, who is loyal to you and never keeps you in the dark.
Make sure you educate yourself
When you are hiring a real estate lawyer, you must educate yourself and be aware of certain aspects. Smart people looking to buy a home learn as much as possible about the entire property purchase deal. Let us explain this point with the help of a suitable example. For instance, when you know about the market rate of similar homes in your locality, it will help you to stay away from over-insistent agents, who try to persuade you to bid for expensive homes beyond your reach.
When you are aware, you also avoid misunderstandings to help you cut back on the stress of signing here, in case, you read the particulars of the numerous property papers in advance.
Have control over the home buying process
You are buying a residential property and therefore, you are the best person to know what features you want in your house. Do not allow agents to scout properties for you because you can learn much if you scan the listings and choose to go for open houses on your own.
Your agent may not care for your requirements or misinterpret them. The agent might not let you see the listings, especially the, for sale by owner ones. In simple words, you should control the home buying process and not an agent because you know what is best for you. If you have any doubts about the property buying process, consult with MGS Real Estate Lawyers or similar ones.
Why you need to work with a lawyer
Real estate deals are complex and involve legalities, therefore, you need to collaborate with an experienced lawyer to make things easy going. When you work with an attorney, and property deals are so consistent these days that most of the people use similar purchase agreements, and all you need to do is filling up a couple of blanks.
On the contrary, if you work with a real estate agent, he may not be competent enough to deal with the legal complexities or answer questions. This is when you need the assistance of a professional lawyer. Though some agents know property negotiation and agreement, they are not competent to make judgments when it comes to legal questions.
Let us cite an example to make this point clear. For instance, your potential new home has an unlawful in-law part and a tenant living there, and you want to evict him or her to rent part of that home to someone. In this scenario, only an experienced lawyer can tell you whether your moves are logical or not. An agent cannot make such decisions.
Again, when you want to rent the prospective home for a long time, like a year or so, before you are obliged to purchase it, you will need to draw up an atypical lease. Then, if you draft some odd language for the purchase agreement, or worried about some language in your home mortgage, you will need to hire a real estate lawyer to look at the property papers for a better understanding of the language. Therefore, you will need a lawyer when purchasing a home and not an agent.
Learn about attorney payments
When it comes to real estate lawyers, they usually charge you by the hour, the rates varying between $150 and $350. Some attorneys ask for flat fees for particular legal services associated with home purchase transactions, like creating real estate closing papers. Although lawyers like to deal with property purchases, entirely through a blank check from the buyer, concerning the hours spent and jobs completed successfully, you are appointing the lawyer, and therefore, you can take control.
Again, when you hire a real estate lawyer for some limited hours for particular jobs like answering legal questions or examining the property papers, it is best if you can negotiate the charges. Then, you must keep your property contract in black and white.
Conclusion
Your real estate lawyer has no personal interest than the fee in the outcome of the property deal, ensuring your home buying needs are catered to efficiently. This is not the case if you appoint an agent who has a personal interest and persuades you to bid for high-value homes for his gain. Agents also ask for exorbitant commissions, much more compared to what your attorney charges. So if you are scouting for homes, hire an experienced and trusted property lawyer to help you make the deal smooth and avoid legal complexities.