Real estate attorney or real estate agent

[Mike Girenko]

Hello BP community,

A question about using real estate attorney... I found a For Sale by Owner property which looks interesting. Should I use a real estate agent to purchase it, or a real estate attorney? I understand that I will need to pay an agent his commission, but will it be more or less expensive than using an attorney? Any other advantages if I use attorney and not an agent?

Thank you!

[Matt B.]

I tend to lean towards a RE attorney but I'm kind of bias since my wife is a RE attorney. They have different views and area of expertise. I would use an agent when I'm looking in a new area or want some area/market insights but unless you hire a buyers agent, the agent works for the seller, at least that's how it is in NYC. A RE attorney can tell you about recent sales they have done, a good RE attorney can tell you about trends and help with any and all legal aspects of RE transactions. Where I am in NYC, I tend to lean more with attorneys than RE agents. The market is flooded with RE agents but not so much with RE attorneys. It's almost guaranteed that any RE attorney sat at more closing tables than any RE agent because there are far less RE attorneys than RE agents.