Do I Need an Attorney When Buying Property?

Buying a home is often the most expensive and significant investment a person will ever make in their life. It’s not a long-term and a short-term decision. As a long-time decision, people buy a home for investment purposes, while a home is where to live as a short-term decision.

There’s more to purchasing a property than just the buying price. Acquiring a property also requires you to make other short-term, medium-term, and long-term divisions. Relocation costs, for example, are short-term decisions that you must consider.

On the other hand, factors such as innovations, location of the property, taxation, government policies, and infrastructural development in the area will be your medium-to-long-term considerations.

There’s a lot of financial commitments on the line. Hence, you need to ensure your real estate decisions and transactions are done right. A legal expert who knows and abides by the required procedures and statutes can come in handy.

A real estate attorney will provide you with a multitude of services to help you finalize the deal. If you’re looking for a real estate lawyer, get in touch with the Rameh Law Firm today.

What does a real estate lawyer do?

Real estate lawyers are licensed legal practitioners specializing in real estate transactions. These experts understand all aspects of home buying transactions and will represent you every step of the way.

In some provinces, for example, Ontario, an attorney must be present at closing. If a lender is involved, an attorney may be present for the sole purpose of safeguarding the lender’s interests.

Having a lawyer on your side, too, is important, as they will solely represent your interests in the discussions. While some home buyers retain a lawyer at the early stage of the transaction to help them navigate matters such as reviewing the brokerage contract, others wait until they need to have an expert in drafting a purchase contract or until closing.

During home purchase, a lawyer can help you with:

Reviewing all legal documents, for example:
- Agreement of Sale
- Agreement of Purchase
- Status Certificate (if you are buying a condo)
Updating property taxes
Ensuring no claims are listed against the home

A lawyer will help you prepare a purchase contract

You might feel you don’t need a lawyer because a real estate agent has already prepared a purchase contract. However, things are not always as smooth as most real estate agents make them seem.

Moreover, in their efforts to save time and money, real estate agents often file out contract templates. They rarely draft a purchase contract from scratch.

An attorney will help review such contracts. However, since buying a home is such a huge investment, it would be best to involve a lawyer to help you draft a customized purchase contract from scratch.

Examples of important matters a lawyer will help you settle in a home purchase contract include:

Timing:

if you have to sell your current home to purchase another, your closing timeline is important. You could also experience lender delays. While such issues are beyond your control, a lawyer will help you draft and customize a contract that factors in such unexpected issues.

Property Inspections: inspections may uncover many defects with the poetry. The buyer and seller may end up in a push and pull game regarding who will foot the repair bills. A lawyer can draw up a purchase contract such that it allows you to pull out of the deal without any penalties if there are fundamental issues that are unresolvable.

Title:

an attorney will help you navigate through the title search process. You don’t want the title to turn up lien (a duly registered legal claim over the home giving the lienholder a “bundle of interests” in the property).

A lien is generally granted by the Court or legal property owner and can prevent the property owner from disposing of it or borrowing against it. An attorney will resolve such matters ensure the title insurance on the property protects you against all potential legal issues adequately.

Are you looking to buy a home? If so, get in touch with Rameh Law Firm today. We will help you monitor the financing, negotiate the repairs, review the title, draft the purchase contract, and watch over your interests throughout the home-buying process.

At closing will ensure you understand all the mortgage documents involved. Of course, there is more to buying a property than what we have discussed.

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