Can an real estate attorney practice in multiple states?

[Masashi Borges-Silva]

As the title says, does an attorney need to be licensed in the same state as in the state where I am buying a property?

For example, I am buying a property in New York state, and I must hire an attorney who practices in New York state.   My understanding is that the attorney can only practice in the state where they are licensed, and my understanding is that an attorney wouldn't have a license in New York and California due to physical constraints.  Maybe, an attorney can benefit from having two licenses in states if s/he lives close to a state border line (i.e. NY and NJ or OR and WA).  But I don't know if it is common for an attorney to practice in multiple states.

The background of this question is, I am buying a property in NY, and I am contacting attorneys who have experience with buying a property using an option (lock in the purchase price now, and purchase the property in Jan. 2023 when my contractors are available to do the work).  My real estate agent referred me to two attorneys who live in the town I am investing in, and I am contacting them to ask them if they have experience with option buying.  If they are unable to help me with this option, then I need to keep searching for one who has such experience.

With the Federal trying to stop the inflation, homeowners might be worried about selling their houses due to a decrease in the number of home buyers in the winter market and decreasing property values in the next few months.  I am ready to purchase a property, but I am unable to find contractors who can do the work until Jan. next year, so I want to offer an option to homeowners to buy at a predetermined value, and exercise my right to purchase at the price in Jan. 2023 to avoid for property to sit two months and not produce income or delay producing income.

Cheers, and thank you for reading this far.

[Jason Marino]

What was discussed above is accurate. It is fairly common to be licensed in more than a single State, and this has gotten slightly easier overtime with many States using the Uniform Bar Exam. You should discuss with the attorney that you are considering partnering with where they are licensed and the scope of work. As stated above, there is legal work that is not considered practicing law and no license is required for that type of work.