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Five Questions to Ask a Prospective Real Estate Lawyer

June 23rd, 2010 9:54 pm

So you have decided that you are going to hire a real estate lawyer to do the selling or the buying of your house. Well, that is good! You will be assured that all the legal matters will be taken care of. Just imagine all the paperwork that you might have if you do it yourself. A real estate lawyer is the right person to do the job for you. But are all real estate lawyers good for you? Again, let our experience be our teacher. Let us again relearn that there are a lot people in this world but there are only few whom you can really trust on. Good people are rare to find so the same as good real estate lawyer are rare to find.

A good real estate lawyer will not only be a good legal companion. But he will also be a good friend to rely on in the future real estate problems or negotiations that you might have. So it is important to find a good real estate lawyer. So before hiring a lawyer here are the five questions that will help you in knowing how good your lawyer is:

First:

Ask his work experience: How long has he been in the real estate field? Who are the people he has work at before? A good real estate lawyer
has a good experience in his studies and in his work with the people before. This will help you in pondering if he is really worth your money and trust.

Second:

Ask about his reputation. What reputation does he have? Reputation is one of your best guidelines in hiring a lawyer. Of course, you do not want to hire a lawyer who has a bad reputation. People always want to work with people who have a good reputation.

Third:

Ask his resources. Nobody is perfect right? So it also applies with your lawyer. That is why you need to ask who the people are working with him. A good lawyer has a good team and has good companions that he can rely on. This will help you decide in hiring him or her.

Fourth:

Ask his availability. Ask him how often is he available to help you. This is important because you are spending money for his time. It is just that he will spend time for you also. If a lawyer is always busy and entrusts most of his work to his secretary think well he might not be the lawyer that you are looking at. So before hiring a lawyer you should clear the terms you want with regards to his availability.

Fifth:

Ask the cost of his service. You should ask this so that things will be clear for the both of you. This will also assure you that you will pay enough money for his right services. A good lawyer clears all the financial concerns with his services. He will also make sure that he is not just for the money but he is also there to really help you do the job efficiently.

A good lawyer will mostly answer these questions or he will assure you that he will find ways in answering these questions.

Commercial Real Estate Broker

June 23rd, 2010 3:43 am

Commercial real estate is a booming business; however, whether you are buying or selling commercial real estate, chances are that you are going to need a bit of help. If you want to have a successful career in the commercial real estate business, then more than likely you will need to work with a commercial real estate broker from time to time. The following are some of the great ways that a commercial real estate broker can be of help to you.

Local Land Values

Having a commercial real estate broker working with you can be very helpful when it comes to local land values. As an investor, you may not always be investing in commercial real estate that is in your area, and it can be hard to find out what the land values are in the area that you are considering investing in. When you work with a commercial real estate agent, they usually have a good grasp on local land values and can help you make good decisions based upon this information. This saves you having to do a great deal of research on your own to find out the same information.

Access to City Officials

If you have been working in the commercial real estate field long, you know that there are many times in this line of work when you have to deal with various city officials. At times this can be difficult, since you may not be familiar with them and you may have a hard time finding time to speak with them. When you work with a commercial real estate broker, many times you will find that they already have direct access to the city officials, which can expedite your deals much of the time.

Negotiation and Constructing Offers

Another great reason to have a commercial real estate broker is that they can do a great deal of the negotiating for you on a deal. It is usually better to have a broker as a go-between instead of dealing directly with the other person in a deal. A broker can usually more effectively negotiate the terms of a deal. They can also help you to construct offers as well so that you will be able to present a good offer on a piece of commercial property.

Exit Strategies

More than likely there will be some point in time when you will find it imperative that you get out of a commercial real estate deal. This can be hard to do on your own, but when you have a commercial real estate broker to help you, then can help you to come up with a solid exit strategy if you need it. When you get out of a deal, you need to have a great strategy that is totally legal, or you may end up losing a great deal of money. Having the commercial real estate broker there to help you can ensure that you exit the deal in a legal way that will not hurt you as well.

Referrals to Other Professionals

Commercial real estate brokers can also be of help to you by referring you to other professionals that can be helpful to you as well. This is especially great if you are new to the commercial real estate industry, you have just moved into a new area, or you are investing outside of the area when you live. It can be difficult to find good professionals to work with, such as lawyers, contractors, inspectors, and engineers. When you are dealing with a commercial real estate agent that you trust, they can refer you to other people that you can trust as well. This saves you the hassle of trying to find some of these professionals on your own without anyone’s recommendations to go on, which can be disastrous in some cases.

Lenders

Another area that a commercial real estate broker can help you with is the financing for your commercial real estate purchase. These broker work with a variety of different lenders from day to day, and if you are looking for financing for your venture, more than likely they can steer you in the right direction. They may even know of some private lenders that may be of some help to you as well.

First Grab at Targeted Properties

Having a commercial real estate broker can be very beneficial to you because they can also allow you to have first grab at some targeted properties that they know of. No doubt there are times when you find a great property, only to find out that it is already under contract and you spoke too late. If the broker knows what you are looking for, they may be able to pocket the listing so you can have the first chance at it.