Is a Real Estate Attorney really needed during the buying process

[Stephanie Knox]

Hey everyone! I'm looking to get my first investment property - so far I sat down with a few credit unions and 1 corporate bank just to see what each one has to offer and just get pre-qualified; based on my 3 credit reports that were looked at, they're saying that I'm a sure approval (for how much I'm not sure yet.) But I was thinking it would be a good idea to get a team together so that when I get an official approval I already know who I want to work with and not waste any time.

My question: is it necessary to hire a real estate attorney during the buying process to look over documents or should I just go to them after buying and it's time to draw up leases? and what are some things that a attorney will be able to do during the buying process that a real estate agent can't? Thanks for any help.

[Steve Babiak]

A few years ago, I was selling a property and buying another - a 1031 exchange came into play. Neither property was on MLS, so no real estate agents involved. Buyer of my property retained an attorney to help with the purchase; the seller for the other property was an estate that was represented by an attorney (and the co-executors). So I was dealing with two different attorneys, and I asked each of them if they had some special contract they wished to use or whether they just wanted to use the PAR purchase and sale contract. Both wanted to use the PAR.

So if you are buying from MLS, the PAR agreement gets used in almost every transaction; there might be some addendum, but the basic contract is so standard that attorneys won't really need to bother reviewing that PAR agreement.

Now, there could be other things where an attorney might be a good idea, for example with existing tenants there might be good reason to review the lease and other paperwork.

So it depends on what you are comfortable with more than anything. 

Let's also ask @Chris K. for his opinion.