., from what I've heard they tend to hit you with fees at the end of the transaction. 

Or, you can do what I did, which was a major pain in the butt and interrupted transactions: back when I was in that world, I had to switch employers every 2 years or so to keep my clients happy, because all financial institutions have good years and dumb years.

Hello, I plan to buy a few condos in Oakland, California and am in search of a lawyer I can hire to do the transactions.Is there a government website or something similar I can use to lookup the name of the attorney who represented the buyer in a specific Oakland real estate transaction?

@Andy Bhuchar This is more common than not, especially if it is a conforming loan transaction.

Looking forward to collaborating with you to create success for all of us, and win-win situations for tenants, sellers, and all involved in or affected by our investing and our transactions and businesses.

In this situation what I did as a contractor is make a google sheet with every transaction that I made including material and labor and I would fill in my daily spending at the end of every day ..... to further note every Sunday my partner and I would go over this google sheet so we were always on the same page.

I would iterate that you're doing this as a owner occupant and not 'developer' so that it's not strictly a financial transaction but you intend on staying here. 

That is a crime that the IRS takes very seriously and banks will not lend based on illegal income.

You also need to know your local market and then you need to know how to properly and legally structure and perform the transaction.

If you are a PropertyRadar subscriber, for example, you’d look at chain of transactions going back to acquisition and original deed.I always insist on a certified copy of death certificate with decedent’s SSN and next of kin.