Should I have a lawyer or attorney?

Question

I coming up on my first flip and I'm not sure when and for what exactly I will need a lawyer or attorney for. How much do I have to expect to pay them?

Scott Steffek · Answer

Dominique,

Sometimes title companies will give you a funny look, if you tell them you have an attorney. I close a lot of business in Indiana and I rarely use an attorney. I would suggest using one, if you're not familiar with the contract or you want to make sure that there's nothing "funny" in it. Otherwise, I would not use one, but it's your call. I pay $200-$300 for an attorney when I use one.  That cost includes reviewing the contract, making changes and making sure the close goes smoothly. I hope this helped you. PM me, if you have any other concerns. Good luck.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

So that "...nois", in Illinois, is coming from their Lawyers?

Arpan Patel · Answer

Depends on the services and your state. Here in IL we use attorney to close a property and the usual charge is about 500. We also use them to draft operating agreements (usually about 1k) and sometimes to contect taxes (1/3 of the first years tax savings if there is any savings). Some people use them to also incorporate but we don't and lastly for other documents depends on their time. Evictions are another big area but we only rent in Indiana so about 500 is about right for that as well. Other than that, not sure but then again PA might have some rules I am not aware of that you need an attorney for and the prices I gave work for Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Not sure if they are applicable to you but it gives you a good base to work from. Hope this helps

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@Steve Babiak  IL the attorneys have a monopoly its BS.. I got so frustrated.. I called a title company and they would not open an order from the public you had to be an attorney easy way for attorney to tack on 500 bucks.  I kept telling the title company I don't need no stinkin attorney for a vanilla all cash buy  LOL

Emmett R. McCarthy · Answer

I  have clients ask me this question all the time. I tell them it is very difficult to assess what a client can and cannot do by themselves. I also can tell many war stories about clients who attempted to handle transactions by themselves and ended up retaining an attorney to clean up the mess, usually at a much greater expense than the initial transaction would have cost. "He who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer."

Monti Harris · Answer

I have done 3 buy and hold deals without an attorney.  did the first without an agent.  sat with the buyer, we drafted our own PA using the state approved (Indiana) form and went to closing. The next two had the agent(s) involved because they were already listed.

Good luck no matter which way you go.  If you have the funds, it is like buying insurance.  BUT, keep in mind, the attorney is in the business of billing for his hours, you job is to stop the hours...

Steve Babiak · Answer

He's located in PA, and I already posted earlier in this thread that an attorney is NOT necessary for a closing in PA.

Chris Titcomb · Answer

@Steve Babiak, thanks for the home-turf insight.

Steve Babiak · Answer

Sorry, but most closings in PA are not handled by attorneys - title agencies are usually used, and attorneys are NOT a necessary part of the transaction.  Of course, there are attorneys who handle closings, and there are attorneys who own title companies ...

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

Sorry.  Read it right...interpreted it wrong.  LOL.

My answer would be yes...and no.

Yes, I would recommend that you use an lawyer in the beginning for a log of things you don't understand, then as you understand them better, you can ease off on their use.  There are a lot of standard things that would be redundant to check for every deal.  We have a number of contracts set up over time that we use as templates.  When we have to add an addendum that has not already been vetted, or that the other party wants to change, we will use our lawyer.  If the addendum we add on is another template we use, and the other party is fine with the wording, there's no need to get it reviewed all over again.

Should I have a lawyer or attorney?

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