RE Laywer & Building Financials
Buying for the first time and have heard that it’s good to have a lawyer go over a building’s financials. Since I’m at the very beginning (just started to look), do I hire an RE lawyer now? How did other people go about handling this? Appreciate any advice!
Buying for the first time and have heard that it’s good to have a lawyer go over a building’s financials. Since I’m at the very beginning (just started to look), do I hire an RE lawyer now? How did other people go about handling this? Appreciate any advice!
Nice try, 1:36, but your typical real estate lawyer is as close to an LLM in anything as I am to a PhD in astrophysics
Putnamdenzen, there are advanced law programs that award an LL.M. degree which indicates specialization in a subfield such as tax law, etc. All lawyers are not created equal.
Whoa, Brownstoners, thanks for all the quick replies. Always good to hear from people who’s lived through this! Will start making calls. (And thanks Dave, for your lawyer’s contact info).
I won’t comment on whether or not THE LAW requires an attorney to represent you in New York State in real estate transactions. Because, gasp, I don’t know. However, if such a law exists (and citation please?) it cannot require a “real estate” lawyer. Attorneys, altho they may specialize in an area, and you would be well advised to seek out qualified representation, actually don’t come in different legal flavors. They are either licensed to practice or not. So I guess that makes me curious about the unsupported (but for all I know, non-mendacious) allegation that aforementioned requirement one engage a member of the legal profession prior and/or during the consumation of a transaction of which the subject is real property or shares in a corporation offering residential leases to shareholders and their designees. Hee, hee…
As someone already mentioned, IT’S THE LAW to have a real estate lawyer represent you once you have an accepted offer. Your lawyer is supposed to do due diligence, which includes checking your co-op/condo’s financials, among many other things. Have one ready and waiting once you’re ready to submit an offer. It must be a real estate lawyer.
I’ve done about 20 real estate transactions and ALWAYS have a lawyer as both the buyer and seller. Don’t use any recommendation from friends or family that doesn’t specialize in real estate. My real estate lawyer can run circles around them because they don’t know the intracacies of a lot of the process. I recommend David Fainkich
dfainkich@nyc.rr.com
He’s in Brooklyn and very competent. Tell him Dave on Stuyvesant Ave recommended him…I paid 1,500 or 1,600 for a closing. You should have a lawyer when you are serious about making an offer and do not wait until you have made an offer to start looking for one.
The financials are only one of the many issues. Pressuring the seller and his lawyer if things are not occurring on a timely manner is another as are issues about any escrow amounts at closing.
Isn’t it actually required by law in New York (state, or just city?) to have a lawyer represent you in a real estate transaction? Anyway, yes, 10:51 is right–have your lawyer lined up in advance, so that once you have an accepted offer you can get the ball rolling right away. They’ll review the financials at the same time as the contract negotiations.
Maybe a hire a certified public accountant. too.
Their specialty is finances.
In terms of the financials, I think you should consult the What. He seems to know a lot about that sort of thing.