Should I Get a Lawyer for a Commercial MF P&S?

[Eric Smith]

I've agreed to terms to buy a six unit MF property in Rhode Island. My realtor is suggesting we get a lawyer to draft up the P&S.

I'm fine with it but is this common for that type of property?

[Anthony Thompson]

Eric, I think you're going to be hard pressed to find someone who's going to say "no, don't get a lawyer".

However in my experience it's common in smaller #s of residential units, say up to 10 or 12 units, to use the "standard" (RIAR) multi-family P&S since it does cover the bases for residential rentals.

The fact that the financing is "commercial" doesn't necessarily affect the rest of the deal, other than your taking into account different loan terms in your analysis of course. But whether it's 4 units or 6 units, you still need to look at all the leases, make sure it's up to fire code (or that seller will bring into compliance), etc.

Of course, as a not-attorney I could be completely wrong about this. And if you have the money or time, it's always better to have an attorney review or prepare things - if you have the money or time, which depending on the deal you may not (as Ron Legrand said, "you can't steal in slow motion"). 

However I used the RIAR P&S to buy a 6 unit and as far as I can tell, the deal went through pretty much exactly like the 4 unit we'd bought a month earlier, the sky didn't fall on us, etc. YMMV, don't blame me if I'm wrong, yada yada yada :)

Also remember that one of your realtor's main concerns might be her/his liability and it's fairly standard in Realtor pre-license classes to teach that every third word out of an agent's mouth should be urging the client to consult an attorney, for exactly that reason. Which is not at all to say it's bad advice, just to consider what one of the motivations behind it could be.