4 Things To Ask About When Hiring A Residential Real Estate Attorney

6 December 2018 by Jonathan Phillips

Real estate attorneys can help you with purchasing your home. Real estate attorneys are particularly useful when it comes to helping out with short sales and residential real estate investment properties. A real estate attorney can look carefully over your deal and offer you advice that a real estate agent can't provide you with.

When you hire a real estate finance attorney, there are a few things you are going to want to ask them in order to judge if they are the right attorney for your case.

#1 Length of Experience

First, find out how long the attorney you are interested in working with has been practicing law. If your real estate situation is pretty straightforward, you don't need an attorney with a lot of experience. A new attorney should have the necessary expertise to help you out.

If you are dealing with a complex deal, like purchasing multiple residential investment properties or purchasing an entire complex, you may want to work with someone who has more experience with real estate deals.

#2 Educational Experience

Don't just assume that you are working with a licensed attorney. Find out where they graduated from law school and make sure the school is accredited. Ask to see a certificate that they passed the bar and are allowed to practice law in your state. These extra steps will help protect you and ensure that you are working with a real estate attorney who has solid credentials.

#3 Practical Experience

Next, find out how much experience that attorney has with the type of case you need help with. You could find someone with a decade of experience who has never worked on the type of real estate deal you need help with. It is a good idea to get assistance from someone who has practical experience with the type of real estate deal you need assistance with. This experience may be shown through the number of similar cases they have worked on or the length of time they have worked on similar cases.

#4 Approach

Feel free to ask how the attorney will approach your case. A good attorney will give you a detailed answer of how they will examine and research your deal to make sure that it is fair to you. A poorly skilled attorney will just tell you that they will take care of it. You want to work with an attorney who will explain the methods they will use to help you with your case. They don't have to give you every detail, but they shouldn't use platitudes either to explain their approach.

#5 Billing

Finally, make sure you know how the attorney plans to bill you. Will they bill you a set rate for the job or will they bill you per hour? If they bill you per hour, how many hours will this job take? The final price should not be a surprise and should be clearly defined up front.

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