ResalesShould an Attorney Review Your Sales Contract?
Even in areas where I was told no one uses a lawyer for real
estate matters, I would never sign any contract for the
purchase or sale of real estate unless it contained the
sentence "this contract is subject to the approval of my
attorney."
Ideally, you"d want to show any contract to your lawyer
before you signed it, but things aren"t that simple. You may
have found your dream house on Saturday afternoon when it"s
just come on the market at a bargain price and you can"t
afford to wait for your lawyer to come in off the golf course.
Or you may be a seller who needs to accept in a hurry before
the offer expires.
But by making the offer subject to attorney"s approval
(you can simply write that above your signature) you"ve used a
magic phrase, and the contract won"t become binding until your
lawyer okays it.
The other party won"t want to wait around too long for
that to happen, so you"d specify a time limit of only a few
days. In a few states, the law specifies a time limit; in New
Jersey, for example, every real estate sales contract is
subject to attorney"s review within five days of acceptance.
Most lawyers will not express an opinion on the price at
which you plan to buy or sell. They feel that matter is
beyond their field of expertise -- unless someone is taking
unconscionable advantage of an ignorant and helpless older person,
or something along that line.
Otherwise, the lawyer"s role is to make sure the wording
protects you, and that you understand what you"re committing
yourself to.
Once the contract is firm, you are probably safe in
following local custom about the further course of the
transaction. In some states your own lawyer follows the whole
course of the transaction and represents you at the closing;
in other areas those duties are handled by escrow agents,
title companies and lending institutions.