Lawyers, Guns and Money?
For a moment yesterday I was contemplating what it means to have a lawyer draft an offer to purchase rather than a real estate agent, broker or Realtor. (You can ask me later how those are all three very different things.) I think I can sum it up by saying: A lawyer can get so bogged down in covering your ass that it may take some time for your ass to get an accepted offer. If you are buying a house from another attorney this may not matter but chances are you are not.
There are all sorts of little nuances that go into writing an offer. Expectations that need to be met, unwritten rules and standards. A lawyer will generally not know that a pre-approval letter should accompany an offer and that it has become expected and the lack of one could mean a counter offer. Do they know that an inspection contingency of 10 days or more may raise a red flag. Do they step back and ask what the terms of the offer will mean to the seller and their ability to accept it, or do they move forward with a single goal that has nothing to do with making a deal happen. In my own dealings with lawyers, after the offer was accepted and the deal underway, subsequent deadlines were often ignored or missed. If real estate is not their primary business, a single deal can easily get lost in the shuffle.
I am reluctant to suggest that lawyers go too far to protect their clients interest, as it might suggest that I stop short of that ultimate protection. I don’t. Years of experience and learning the nuances of the dance allow me to help a client achieve a goal while at the same time protecting their interests. If you just do one or the other you will be protected from risk, but not from the rain.
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