When my husband I decided to start a business, we didn't think about the legal aspects of doing so. We didn't realize that purchasing business insurance, getting building permits and making investments all required some type of legal advice. But after speaking to a close friend, who also happens to own a small business, we contacted a business attorney. Now, we have the legal smarts to make the best decisions for our business, as well as the legal representation in case something happens to our company. I hope that you find my blog helpful and informative for your own business. It's a great resource for finding the legal advice, resources and guidance you need to get your company up and running.
Need Legal Help for Your Business? Find It Here
Need A Real Estate Attorney? Ask Them These 2 Questions
Ronnie Mills
Are you in the process of looking for a real estate attorney to handle your upcoming property transaction? If so, it helps to ask the following questions.
Are Services Billed Hourly Or As A Flat Fee?
One of the first things that you should do when looking for a real estate attorney is figure out how they are going to charge you. While some attorneys bill based on an hourly rate, others handle real estate transactions as a flat fee. That is because the process of buying real estate is typically straightforward and the billable hours can be very predictable. If the attorney does charge a flat fee, make sure that it covers all of the services necessary to purchase a home.
If the attorney does charge per hour, you'll want to get a clear understanding of when they bill you, how they round their hours, and what their hourly rate is for different services. For example, phone calls with your attorney may be rounded to up to the nearest quarter hour. There may be a different legal rate for reviewing a contract and writing a contract. All these fees should be clear before you get started.
Will A Title Search Be Performed?
A common service that real estate attorneys can do is perform a real estate title search, which is the process of making sure that the title is free and clear to be transferred to you during the purchasing process. The goal is the title search is to find anything that could prevent the owner from legally selling the property to you or leave you with debts on the property that need to be paid. For example, there could be a lien on the property where it is being used as collateral for a court judgment. In that situation, the lien would have to be cleared before the home could be sold.
While most attorneys will perform a title search as part of their services, it is also possible that you need to hire a separate title search company to handle this task for you. Make sure to clarify if the title search will be done by the attorney as part of their fee or if it needs to be handled by another company.
Still have some questions about hiring legal help to handle the sale of your home? Reach out to a real estate law firm in your area for a consultation about their services.
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