Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“Is there anything about your field of law that you would want to make sure a potential real estate clients would want to know.”
Andre Clark – Real Estate Attorney – Los Angeles/San Bernardino County, CA
“Not always, but many of the real estate cases that I take, calling myself, as I handle, a real estate business cases, because business and real estate often overlap. But most of these things are contractual in nature. Even if it’s just a deed that’s that issue. When you give a deed to someone in exchange for something, every time there’s a transaction, unless it’s a gift, it’s potentially a contract.
So, one… if you’re going to enter into a real estate deal, a big transaction like that, there should be a contract. And two, if you’re going to enter into a contract, you should have your lawyer either review it, because somebody else prepared it, or you should have your lawyer prepare it. And you should have your own lawyer. And I know… sometimes,
‘I don’t want to pay a few thousand dollars for a lawyer.’
But this is not a simple transaction, because it’s not like going to buy a t-shirt. $2,000, or $500 , or even $5,000 dollars, to an attorney, to be on your side is small compared to California real estate, with an average price is five to six hundred thousand dollars. Two thousand dollars doesn’t make a difference. It could save you a whole lot of money.
So, get you a lawyer that can review things. In my office, we generally charge just a few hundred dollars to review a contract. We may even give you a price to say we’ll review every contract in this escrow before you sign it. And that way, you’re not just listening to your real estate agent who you think has your best interest, but he really wants a commission. And you’re listening to an attorney whose only job…he could care less about a commission, because you paid him already. And his job is just to protect you in this transaction, notwithstanding your real estate agent.”