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I spent $100 for a local real estate attorney to look at my last contract and offer me a few suggestions. If you dont have $100, you shouldn't be buying a house.
Exactly, I spent ~$550 (Attorney was also title guy and gave was cheaper than the bank, so it was basically free).
Wish I was where you are .... it can cost several hundred just to speak to someone around here much less get them to look at anything and offer suggestions.
Wish I was where you are .... it can cost several hundred just to speak to someone around here much less get them to look at anything and offer suggestions.
And I say the same thing to you. If you cant afford $400 lawyer, you cant afford to buy a house.
And I say the same thing to you. If you cant afford $400 lawyer, you cant afford to buy a house.
I'm guessing you aren't understanding or I didn't express it well. That would be just for the phone conversation or initial meeting. It would cost A LOT more to actually get someone to look everything over. If we can afford two mortgages (apparently), we obviously wouldn't have had a problem with $400 (an amount I didn't mention).
Like I mentioned, I'm sorry I don't necessarily agree that when purchasing a new home that my first thing would be to run out and get an attorney. Based on our history with her we had no reason to feel otherwise.
Wow, and here I thought I was on a helpful understanding forum. I've done a lot of reading on here and felt that I could get some sound advice.
We are already past the point of "getting an attorney" to start. Throwing those statements around at this point unfortunately doesn't help and as I've stated I don't necessarily agree.
My issue is how to proceed from here. Talking to her supervising broker sounds like a good start.
That would be just for the phone conversation or initial meeting. It would cost A LOT more to actually get someone to look everything over.
Look, you only need an attorney if you dont understand what your reading.
There is no set cost. Lawyer rates are negotiable. Shop around. Many times I just scan paperwork to a PDF and send it to my lawyer for pre-negotiated rates. No need to setup an appointment or show up to the office. You can easily setup a relationship with a good lawyer for reasonable rates.
They dont even need to be in your city. They can be anywhere, but I recommend staying within your state.
We were discussing it as we were going over the forms and from what I read I thought we were covered. According to her now we aren't.
What did you read that made you think you were covered?
Did it state somewhere that "this contract is contingent on the seller selling their home"?
Did your agent show you that language?
Did you place your initial on each page, indicating that you read that page?
Those are questions the agent's supervising broker will most likely ask. The broker will need to determine if the agent made an error, and/or if the error was on your part; or if both of you made an error.
People have been trying to be helpful to you here, but apparently you are not hearing what you want to hear, and interpret that as not being helpful.
You were advised to gather all the emails and written notes between you and your agent so you can prove you told her to add the contingency.
It is not too late to speak with an attorney. At this point, if the broker does not agree with you, then the attorney will be very helpful because s/he will probably ask you some of the same questions about reading the contract, and getting supporting documents that has been mentioned here.
The attorney needs to be a "real estate" attorney.
We are all trying to help.
Last edited by Captain Bill; 09-07-2012 at 08:31 AM..
So everyone is pounding the OP.
Maybe the OP had a lapse, but thank goodness the OP engaged a professional buyers agent to prevent that from happening!
Where I work, the licensee is held to a higher standard than the OP and to "forget" a form pretty much makes it an open and shut case.
OP should be addressing the firm management about the forgetfulness, unless the agent can provide agreeable adjustments.
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