Real estate transactions and disputes almost always involve significant assets. The money that surrounds real estate means that losing a property or your investment in a property, could be financially devastating. Equip yourself with a top-notch real estate lawyer to ensure that you’ll end up on the winning side of your transaction or dispute.
What Do DuPage County Real Estate Lawyers Do?
As the name suggests, real estate lawyers handle everything that pertains to real estate. Lawyers that operate within this field typically handle transactions as well as disputes. An experienced real estate attorney is well equipped to understand purchase agreements, mortgage documents, title documents, and transfer documents in order to guide a buyer or seller through the complexities of real estate sales and purchases. Additionally, an experienced real estate lawyer is familiar with common pitfalls that can trap the unwary purchaser in a real estate transaction, and can often help the client get ahead of issues before they lose money on the deal or end up with a house they don’t love. A pro-active real estate attorney can often negotiate a way through transactional or inspection-related challenges, to ultimately benefit the client. Whether representing a buyer or a seller, a good real estate attorney recognizes that the ultimate goal of all involved is to complete the transaction with a stress-free and happy closing. .
How Can a Real Estate Attorney Help Me Close On a Property?
It’s in this context that real estate attorneys are most often called in to support clients. A property closing includes the purchase (Buyer’s side) and sale (Seller’s side) of a property. During this process, a lawyer will review sales contracts and professional inspection reports, suggest modifications to the contract and pertinent items for repair or renegotiation of terms to address deficiencies disclosed in a professional inspection of the property, prepare or review final closing documents, assist with the execution of mortgage document, and work with the title company to write title insurance policies, complete title searches on the property, and oversee the final transfer of funds for the property. In addition to this, the attorney will prepare the HUD-1A and documents that pertain to the escrow and disbursement of funds.
What Are Common Real Estate Disputes?
Along with closing on a property, real estate lawyers assist clients when a dispute arises between two or more parties regarding aspects of a property.
The most common reason for a real estate dispute involves issues that were undisclosed at the time of purchase. It’s in the seller’s best interest, and his obligation under the law, to disclose any known material defects or issues with the property, relative to health and safety and habitability of the proprety. If a buyer finds that the seller hasn’t been forthright, or worse, concealed a material defect in the property, they may need to initiate litigation to recover the cost of damages related to the repair of the defect, such as contractor costs and relocation costs if the property is or becomes uninhabitable. . If the seller was aware the defect and didn’t inform the buyer of it before the purchase, they may end up paying the price.
Occasionally before a house is sold, the owner will agree to make certain repairs before the closing transaction takes place. However, if the seller hasn’t made good on their promises, these become issues at the closing. If not caught until after the closing, unresolved repair issues can pose unexpected financial burdens on new home buyers, forced to completepressing repairs that should have been completed by the seller prior to the closing and transfer of possession. Before any repairs are made, contact your real estate lawyer to protect your right to recover costs from the seller.
“Failure to perform“is a term used to describe when a party fails to honor, or defaults on, a real estate contract. Once a contract has been accepted, as evidencedby the signatures of Sellers and Buyers, and validated through the attorney review and inspection contingency window, it must be honored by both parties. In the event of a breach, buyers risk loss of earnest money deposits, and sellers risk the prospect of having to pay damages for failure to perform and tender of possession of the property to the new owners. In either scenario, depending on the extent of damages sustained by eithr party, failure to honor the contract to purchase or sell real estate, may warrant a lawsuit.
The experience that real estate lawyers bring to transactions and disputes, makes their assistance invaluable when you are buying or sellilng a home or other real property. Protect your money and your investment by calling the respected Glen Ellyn, Illinois based team of lawyers at 630.858.9800. Michelle Moore’s team has been happily serving residents of Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Wheaton, Elmhurst, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Oak Brook Hinsdale, Lombard, Villa Park, Lisl,e Woodridge, Carol Stream, Winfield Warrenville, Roselle, Itasca, Wood Dale and all areas of DuPage, Cook ,Kane, Kendall and Will Counties since its founding in 2001.