When and how to find an attorney?

[Ben Curtin]

I will soon to be real estate investor, as I'm going to be buying my first property, (a tri-to-fourplex) to buy and hold, and "house-hack" in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area.

I have just been pre-approved for financing, and I have a few prospective properties I'm looking at with my agent, but I haven't talked to a real estate attorney yet, and I'm curious if I need to discuss my plan with a lawyer to 1) become educated on the local and general land lording laws, 2) form a rental/lease-agreement for my future tenants, 3) Advise me on a corporate entity to form to hold this property under, and 4) help me steer clear of anything illegal I may have a tendency to do before I actually do it. I'm pretty well versed already on general land lording laws, and some of my state specific laws as well, but I feel at some point I will definitely need one to answer any other legal questions or concerns which may arise in the buying process.

Additional questions are: how do you find a good real estate attorney?

and, when doing these types of dealings, how much would one expect to spend on attorney fees?