Choosing a Real Estate Attorney

Throughout the course of your real estate investment career you will inevitably need the guidance of a qualified attorney.  Getting the right lawyer is crucial to you.  Spending $500 to have an attorney on retainer can save you $10,000 in lost profits from a deal that goes sour. You have several options when choosing an attorney which include investing in a pre-paid legal plan online or hiring a local attorney in your area.  Here are some simple steps you can take to insure you choose a  good attorney.

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The number one criterion has to do with a lawyer's legal ability, background and experience.  You need someone who is going to be honest with you and will lay down the law for you.  Having an attorney who just tells you what you want to hear is useless.  You need someone who will present you with options, explain the  ramifications of each decision you make and give you recommendations on the  best course of action. You need a lawyer who gives you candid advice  and council you can trust, someone with enough perspective to step back  from an issue and look at it from all perspectives and be objective.

In this day and age of very complicated, niche legal issues,  more and more attorneys are picking one field of law and specializing in it.  You will almost always get better  information from an attorney with a practice specialized in a particular area of the law than a 'General Law' attorney who normally deals with a broad spectrum of legal issues. As a real estate investor you want an attorney who is proficient in real estate law, contracts, title issues and possibly even foreclosure defense and short sales. One of the newest methods of finding an attorney is using an online, pre-paid legal service.

 The Pros and Cons of Attorney Services Online

• With online attorney services you're able to get legal advice from the convenience of your home and you do not have to set aside valuable work time to meet with your attorney.

• You can initiate the contact with your attorney anywhere, driving in your car, grabbing a sandwich and coffee, whatever and wherever is convenient for you.
• On the web, you can find many legal directories in just a few clicks; making you able to compare many services in a short amount of time.

• You are not compelled to hire the attorney right away unlike when you're meeting with them personally. When you sit in someone's office you tend to feel that you are obligated to hire him/her since you've already meet him/her in person.
• The chances of dealing with fraud attorneys are high
• The risks of hiring unreliable attorney services are greater than when you know the firm personally
• You are faced with thousands of choices; hence, you tend to get confused on which attorney services to choose.

• You cannot see whether the attorney is sincere in helping you or not from their facial expressions, however many of these on line services also provide Skype conference calling.

No matter where you opt to hire attorney services, the best thing to do s you could get the best one, is to ask for referral. Yes. Ask your friends or relatives whether they know of attorney services firm that is reliable and can give you the kind of services that you need. They may have worked previously on some attorneys with good records and refer them to you.

 

Daniel Doran is a 20+ year veteran in the real estate industry. He is a previous owner of a law firm, mortgage and title company. Daniel has also written several books on mortgage modification, short sales and real estate investing. He currently specializes in Commercial Finance and Real Estate Development and is a graduate of Manhattanville College and Brooklyn Law School. You can contact Dan at Buildings By Owner.