What Does a Real Estate Attorney Do?

Use these links to jump to different sections:

• Real Estate Transaction Attorneys Help Clients Get the Deal Done
• 12 Common Legal Issues That Real Estate Attorneys Handle
• When Does it Make Sense to Hire a Real Estate Lawyer Over an Agent or Title Company?
• Find an Experienced Attorney

Selling commercial or residential property can be a more complicated task than you think. While some property owners may be inclined to try and handle a complex sale themselves, more often than not it makes sense to hire an experienced real estate attorney to guide them through a transaction.

A real estate attorney specializes in legal matters related to property transactions. They advise buyers and sellers, ensure compliance with legal requirements, and handle the legal documents and negotiation aspects of real estate transactions.

Real Estate Transaction Attorneys Help Clients Get the Deal Done

“As a real estate transactional attorney, I’m wearing a lot of hats and am kind of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to getting a deal done and helping my client navigate that process, depending on what role they are in,” says Sarah D. Cline, a real estate attorney in Frederick, Maryland who represents buyers, sellers, and lenders.

Real estate financing is a catch-all term that covers a wide variety of legal and financial issues related to real estate transactions. It can involve everything from obtaining a mortgage to advising the seller on the potential tax implications of a real estate transaction. Lawyers who specialize in this field must not only have a deep background in real estate law but also understand how financial markets work.

12 Common Legal Issues That Real Estate Attorneys Handle

Some of the more common issues handled by real estate finance and transaction attorneys include:

1. Negotiating purchase agreements for homebuyers and sellers
2. Reviewing property titles and surveys to ensure a property will meet the buyer’s needs
3. Reviewing loan documents and negotiating where needed
4. Securing financing for sales
5. Refinancing a property owner’s existing mortgage loan
6. Helping individuals navigate non-traditional residential financing, such as loans from family or friends
7. Handling property transactions where special legal restrictions may apply, such as zoning issues for condominiums or cooperative buildings
8. Addressing the potential impact of government intervention in the mortgage market
9. Structuring commercial-backed mortgage securities (CMBS)
10. Negotiating sale and leaseback contracts, where the seller sells a property to a buyer then agrees to lease it back
11. Filing for bankruptcy on behalf of a property owner
12. Providing other “creative financing” alternatives for real estate transactions, such as short sales or co-lending agreements

When Does it Make Sense to Hire a Real Estate Lawyer Over an Agent or Title Company?

Not every real estate transaction needs an attorney, and depending on where you live, state law may not require you to use an attorney for residential real estate transactions. Buyers and sellers who don’t use a real estate lawyer often rely on real estate agents and title companies to close a deal.

However, hiring an attorney can provide invaluable assistance for a comparable price. “From my perspective, if you can get a lawyer for the same price as a lay title agency, it makes sense to me that you would get an attorney,” Cline says. “Because we compete with the lay title agency, we try to keep our fees competitive in the market.”

A lawyer can help you save time by figuring out many of the legalities involved in financing a transaction for you. An experienced attorney has seen situations like yours before and already knows what steps to take. More to the point, a real estate finance attorney knows what questions to ask the buyer or lenders involved in a potential deal, so they can hopefully identify potential problems before they happen. “I also tell clients it’s a lot easier for me to look at the contract and make sure it protects you before you sign it than try to get you out of it after the fact,” Cline says.

And as is always the case when you hire an attorney, that person is legally and ethically obligated to work only for you. “I’d like to think there’s an additional level of peace of mind,” Cline says. “I just have another license on the line. I have ethical obligations as a lawyer on top of my malpractice and ethical obligations as a title producer.”

Other parties to a real estate deal have their own interests to protect. So even when they are acting in good faith, there is always a risk that they will take certain actions that might undermine your own position. Having your own attorney can provide insurance against such risks.

Finally, even after a deal is complete there can still be financing-related issues that crop up weeks or months later. A real estate financing attorney can keep an eye on things for you and alert you to any post-transaction issues that may arise. In the end, hiring a qualified lawyer is effectively buying peace of mind that a real estate transaction will not overwhelm you with legal complexity or unknown pitfalls.

Find an Experienced Attorney

Visit the Super Lawyers directory to find an experienced real estate lawyer in your area. View more information about residential or commercial real estate transactions or visit our real estate law overview.