Buying or Selling a Home/lawyer or no lawyer

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Expert: - 4/4/2007


Question
I am a first time homebuyer about to make an offer on a house. If the offer gets accected and this moves forward is it absolutely necessary for me to get a lawyer for the signing. They are so expensive and i've been getting mixed signals about it from everyone. Thanks

Answer
Dear Laurie;
I know that closings are different in certain areas.  If you live in a part of the US that has Escrow officers doing the closings you will not need a lawyer.  However, in many parts of the United States Escrow companies are not involved.  I cannot imagine doing a closing without a lawyer in some states.  Others use title companies.  If you ask around and find out what is normal in your area, go with that.  If the consensus is to use a lawyer then you most definitely should particularly since you are a first time home buyer.  Saving money on the transaction can cost you dearly in errors.

Good luck and best wishes,
Jessica Bryan

Buying or Selling a Home

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Jessica Bryan

Expertise

buying and selling process such as:
General questions from first time buyers
How to market a home
Why choose a REALTOR
How do I find a REALTOR
Should I consider buying or selling without a REALTOR--how much can I save
Should I remodel or move
How much can I expect to gain by fixing up my home before selling
Helpful tips when selling
Helpful tips when buying
finding a good mortgage loan
what is the difference between banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers
Questions from the general public, people thinking about getting their real estate license, newly licensed.
Fellow professionals who have interests in networking and how to get started
What is a market evaluation and how does it differ from an appraisal what are the different loan programs
services a REALTOR can perform
when to use a lawyer
when to use escrow
what are the regional differences in the buying and selling process
what is the MLS and how does it work
how can the layman access information on the web--listings and other information
These are just a few of the questions. I can suggest that if I am unable to answer a question I will refer the inquiry to a source that can.

Experience

Anyone who is in this business and who dedicates oneself to professionalism has continued to take classes and along with it,additional credentials, awards and honors. I can list a host of them, but my greatest accomplishments happen to be those of getting first time buyers (who didn't think they could afford to buy a home)into a home of their dreams. The look on their faces when I hand over the keys is worth all of the hard work.

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