A Sellers Guide to Real Estate Lawyer Fees

For many people, selling a home is a significant financial event. If you’re like most sellers, you want to make sure you’re getting the most return on your investment and that you’re safeguarding yourself from loss. Hiring an expert real estate lawyer to check the sale agreements and look for mistakes or omissions that could potentially damage your selling proceeds is one way some sellers try to reduce risk. For a home purchase that potentially yields hundreds of thousands of dollars when sold, real estate Lawyer Edmonton fees are a small outlay to pay.

The Donaldson Law Firm founder and real estate lawyer Stephen Donaldson says that “the cost of retaining a lawyer compared to the purchase price of an average home is normally nominal, at best.”

What Do Real Estate Lawyers Do?

Real estate lawyers need to be licensed, educated, and experienced to prepare, examine, negotiate, and argue crucial legal documents and issues pertaining to the purchase or sale of a property. A professional real estate lawyer reviews the documentation and informs parties of any issues that may need to be resolved or amended in order to protect the interests of their client.

Documents that lawyers handle include:

• Purchase Agreements
• Title Reports
• Reports of Inspections
• Paperwork for Closing and Transfer
• Mortgage Paperwork
• Taxes On Real Estate
• Real Estate Liens
• Estate Planning Documentation

Services Real Estate Lawyers Offer to Sellers

Depending on their needs and the province they live in, real estate lawyers offer sellers a variety of services. These may include:

• Contract Drafting and Revision
• Depositing Earnest Money into Escrow
• Looking At Title Reports
• Clearing Up Title Issues
• Creating Deeds
• Examining Loan Documentation
• Drafting and Revising Appraisal and Inspection Contingency Clauses
• Negotiating Requests for Inspection
• Getting A Certificate Of Occupancy (CO)
• Managing Documentation for Lien Issues, Including Payoff and Discharge
• Going Over Settlement Statements
• Notifying the Tax Authorities Of The Sale
• Drafting Changes for Lawyer Reviews

How Much Are Lawyer Fees for Real Estate Transactions?

The real estate lawyer Edmonton fees depends on your location, their level of experience, the services they provide, and the complexity of the transaction.

The hourly rate for real estate lawyers ranges from $150 to $350, while some can charge as much as $500. Additionally, they could impose a fixed fee for preparing closing documents. Although some lawyers charge by the hour, according to Donaldson, it’s more common for lawyers to charge a flat fee.

The Sum Up

Your real estate agent or your agent’s brokerage is the best place to start if you need a recommendation for a top real estate lawyer. You might be able to get a few names of lawyers they’ve dealt with in the past who they’d be pleased to recommend from them. You can also ask relatives and friends for recommendations, but if that fails, you can research real estate lawyers online and read reviews from previous clients. A qualified lawyer helps to prevent unfavorable circumstances that could wind up costing sellers extra money so sellers get more legal value for their money.