Real Estate Attorneys - Advice
Hello,
Having gone through a few courses (LeGrand's Cash Flow Modules, Steve Cook's Wholesale/Retail, Bronchick's Creative Financing, Land Trust, Bulletproof Corp & LLC/LLP), I believe I am finally ready to begin to take action.
My first step, before making offers, is to find a good real estate attorney in my area to review my contracts and land trust documents (I am inclined to use Bronchick's documents as a basis).
I have read John Locke's article on selecting a real estate attorney and I pulled some names off martindale-dot-com per his advice. Now that I have some names, I want to set up appointments to interview these attorneys. Recognizing that they are professionals and they have no more interest in wasting their time than I do in wasting mine, what is the best way to approach them and have them take me seriously?
I also prefer not to be charged for initial visit as it will be more of a "meet and greet" than a real consultation. Is this realistic?
Lastly, if I would appreciate any referrals to any good real estate attorneys in San Bernardino County in So. California (I do not mind LA or Orange County if they are really good) --as well as title companies (must do sim. closings), tax planners/CPA (real estate focused, of course), etc. (Edited Note: I am not sure if this is considered advertising. If it is, please feel free to contact me via e-mail if that is appropriate. If not, then please disregard. I do wish to violate any rules- RS)
Thanks
RS
[ Edited by Rogue on Date 11/13/2003 ][ Edited by Rogue on Date 11/13/2003 ]
It's been a while since I've bought or sold a house in California personally, but my impression is that it's extremely rare that attorneys are involved in average residential real estate transactions. I don't know anyone who's ever used a lawyer for the transaction itself (for a pretty small sample - probably 15 homes). Ignore this if you're talking about commercial real estate, that's a whole different ballgame.
My impression from skimming a lot of the real estate books and courses is that the details they talk about are for easterners (and it may well be that they're bogus for the east as well, but I wouldn't know), and that normal transaction here on the Pacific Rim look a little different than the rest of the country. I don't know about Bronchick in particular, but if he doesn't explicitly say "these documents are for California, and they were written in 200X or 199X" I suspect that they wouldn’t be helpful.
One simple way to find out how different your forms are than the ones most people are using would be to just ask a friend (or look yourself, if you've bought recently) to see all the forms they filled out. You might be surprised at the differences.
Anyone regularly use an attorney for a normal house in CA - say, transactions less than a million? I'd add a smiley face, but that's a real number. Every time I think Seattle prices are high I just visit San Diego or the SF Bay Area. Around where I live you can still get a halfway decent two bedroom house for $300k if you look really hard. Doesn’t mean you don’t need a lawyer, but you may not need a lawyer for what the books say you do.
(My impression is that what other parts of the country uses lawyers for is done by escrow companies in CA and WA, but this could be way off base.)
Simultaneous closings? Don't forget you're probably looking at doubling things like excise taxes depending on where you live. In Berkeley it was something like 2% for each sale.
You might want to add some local classes to your list. Around here there's some good options through the Experimental College (part of the University of Washington) and at Bellevue Community College. The advantage of these is that they're local and inexpensive (talking tens or hundreds of dollars for a course, not thousands). Local information really, really matters. Real estate courses and books targeted at a national audience are potentially useful for strategy, but they’re going to be very weak on the details. You might also consider just taking the course to get a real estate agents license. It’s cheap – something around $100 for the online classes. You don’t need to get your license when you’re done, but the information you’ll get about transactions specific to California may be worth the time and money.
jamespb,
Outstanding post, I think it would qualify as an Article.
jamespb,
Thank you for your post.
Although I am looking for an attorney to simply look over the documents that I will use with my seller--as opposed to using an attorney for the actual transaction, your post contains good advice nonetheless.
I have already taken a CA real estate course (I need a refresher as it was about ten years ago) and I have been contemplating retaking the course.
Again, thank you for your reply.
Sincerely,
RS
[ Edited by Rogue on Date 11/13/2003 ][ Edited by Rogue on Date 11/13/2003 ]
why not use them all for different pieces. Limiting yourself to one is a bad idea. You are basically, looking for the one you click with... IThey all do the same thing and are liable for what they do, so I wouldn't be so concerned with them messing something up as much as who understands you the most as a client