What Does A Real Estate Lawyer Do When Buying A Home?

Have you made an offer on a home and now you need to assemble a team of professionals to help you? If so, you'll definitely want to have a real estate lawyer on your team. Here are some of the things they will do to make the home-buying process easier.

Review Your Purchase Contract 

One of the first legal documents that you will have to sign is the purchase contract, which sets up everything for the home-buying process. You'll definitely want a lawyer to review the purchase contract that is provided by the seller so that you know it is accurate and fair. If the document does need to be revised, your lawyer can help go through the proper legal methods to modify the document so that changes are legally binding.

Conduct Your Title Search

An important part of the home-buying process is the title search. This is when the history of the property is verified to ensure that it does not have any existing liens on it. The goal is for your lawyer to find these problems before you close on the home since you can have the existing owner clear them up if you want to move forward with the purchase. If the owner cannot or will not fix those problems, then you can walk away from the sale due to the contingencies included in the purchase contract by your lawyer. 

Review Your Closing Documents

There will be a ton of documents that you need to sign on the day of your closing, with many of them you will not fully understand. Your lawyer is going to review each of those documents to ensure that they are accurate, and to explain each one to you in easy-to-understand language. For example, they'll verify that the documents from your mortgage lender are accurate with the terms and interest rate that you originally agreed to. 

Create Your Escrow Account

If you are required to use escrow as part of purchasing your home, such as by your mortgage lender, your real estate lawyer can help you navigate that process. That includes setting up the escrow account, depositing the funds, and making sure that the funds are released for the purchase of the home. If you've never set up an escrow account before, the help of a lawyer will be incredibly valuable to ensure that it is done right.  

For more info, contact a local real estate lawyer


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