Do I have to pay full Attorney fee? -never closed real estate

[sholden]

Originally Posted by JCParalegal

One example that comes to mind is a man who bought a rather nice condo. The realtor told him he could just "evict the tenants and move in himself" or "flip the condo for a lot of cash". So he buys it, sans attorney. Turns out the condo had protected tenants (the same tenants at the time of the conversion who were never served with the three year notice of conversion and a zillion other things, but the disabled elderly tenants had applied for and been granted protected tenancy and could potentially remain protected for 40 years) who were also under rent control. Oh and they had a lease that didn't mention anything about the unit being a condo (very important in Hudson County). The short version is that their rent was around $400, and his mortgage, taxes and condo fees were well over $2,000.

I agree, people who are dumb enough to believe anything a realtor says seriously need to use an attorney. They should probably have someone else do complicated things like using the microwave too.

Everyone else should use an attorney because the marginal cost is so small (compared with the total cost of a house/condo/whatever).

[gagaliya]

Originally Posted by debvic

We have bought and sold several homes over the years and never used an attorney. We did not have any complications and the Title companies do most of the work and with a HUD and standard contracts we were comfortable doing it this way. I do understand this is considered a bit risky but as I said we have never had an issue. Maybe we were fortunate to have good fair buyers and sellers to deal witn each time, or maybe lawyers like to make mountains out of mole hills to look like they are being a service to you.

i hope noone follows this, it is terrible advice. In the state of NJ, if you do not use an attorney you are opening yourself up to potentially major headachs down the road. The attorney fees are so small compared the money we are talking about, it's just plain foolish trying to save money here.

Again this applies to NJ, in PA for example few uses attorneys as the realtor does the attorney job, so now you want a very good realtor on your side as oppose to NJ where realtors are nothing more than a telephone for you to ferry the bid/ask with the seller/buyer.

[debvic]

Originally Posted by gagaliya

i hope noone follows this, it is terrible advice. In the state of NJ, if you do not use an attorney you are opening yourself up to potentially major headachs down the road. The attorney fees are so small compared the money we are talking about, it's just plain foolish trying to save money here.

Again this applies to NJ, in PA for example few uses attorneys as the realtor does the attorney job, so now you want a very good realtor on your side as oppose to NJ where realtors are nothing more than a telephone for you to ferry the bid/ask with the seller/buyer.

I think anyone with good judgement,common sense,and a good home inspection can avoid most pitfalls in the buying process. If you lack those then by all means hire an attorney.They have instilled an unrealistic fear into people who are now afriad to trust their own instincts and judgement anymore.

[shtofmakher]

Originally Posted by Sawdustmaker

I've never paid anything more than $800.

Looking over a standard contract and making a few phone calls is not worth $750.

If you want, I'll give you the # of the best real estate lawyer I have ever dealt with in the state of NJ. He doesn't charge for "answering the phone". He knows his stuff inside and out. He dots all of his i's and crosses all of his t's and is very accessible. Not a "holier than thou" type. He's a pure gem who will go out of his way.

I've referred several friends and family members of mine to him and they have been nothing but happy with their experience.

Can I have this lawyer name and #. Thanks