Usually, the purpose of selling your home on your own is to reduce the costs associated with real estate transactions. When you sell by owner, you don’t have to worry about paying hefty real estate commissions to agents who market and show the house on your behalf. Even if you are selling on your own, it’s a good idea to have a real estate attorney review the contract you create with an interested buyer.
When you write the contract yourself, or use a standard template that you can find online, the attorney will not need to spend a lot of time reviewing it. Therefore, the cost is likely to be minimal. You should budget between $200 and $500, depending on where the property is located and how complex the contract is.
When you need a real estate attorney to write the contract for you, or the one you submit to the attorney requires a lot of work, your costs will be a bit higher. The best thing you can do is to talk to a couple of different lawyers and find out what they would charge. Some real estate attorneys will charge you a flat fee for the contract review, and others will charge by the hour.
Make sure you use a lawyer who is experienced in real estate law and familiar with the requirements for any forms and documentations. Choosing a lawyer you have used in the past for family or business issues is not a great idea. When you’re selling your home by owner, you need to make sure you are covered and protected, and your contract will do that.
Stephen K. Hachey, a Florida real estate attorney, can help your wade through this process and determine a positive solution. Contact him at 813-549-0096.
The opinions in this post are solely those of the author. The author takes full responsibility for the content. Like all blog posts, this is offered for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
This post was written by Stephen Hachey. Follow Stephen on Google, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin.
