REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS:

the Buying and Selling Homes and Business Property

The purchase of a house is the largest investment most people will ever make. The contract to buy or sell a home, often called a purchase offer or purchase contract, may be the largest money contract you will ever sign. For these reasons it is absolutely essential that you have an attorney to represent you for your real estate closing.

If you have a real estate agent, he or she will sometimes prepare the purchase offer using a preprinted form. If you do not have a real estate agent, our office can advise you on the steps to take in order to get a signed purchase offer. We can also give you tips as you are negotiating your deal so that you get the best possible price for your house.

Whether you are a seller or a buyer, when you sign your purchase offer you should be sure that it contains a phrase such as, "This contract shall be subject to my attorney's approval as to form and content." If such a phrase is in your purchase offer, you can sign it with the assurance that your attorney can review it and deal with any problems or difficulties after you sign. Either you or your real estate agent should fax a copy of the signed purchase offer to our office fax number (315) 474-4334, so we can review it and discuss the contract with you before we approve it.

Once we have seen a signed purchase offer, we can describe the particular real estate closing process likely to be followed in your closing. We will discuss the mortgage process and the timetable for the mortgage commitment, and when and how the deal will be closed. There are many different financing options for real estate sales including buyer financed mortgages, assumable mortgages, conventional mortgages insured with PMI, and various kinds of government guaranteed mortgage programs. We will review with you all of the costs and expenses of the closing including real estate commissions, mortgage closing costs, abstract fees, title insurance, survey fees and legal expense, and explain who pays each of these fees.

Commercial real estate closings for buying and selling business property are similar to residential closings, except that the dollar amounts can be greater. There are also various additional business related issues which can crop up. Commercial and business real estate transactions generally have custom contracts with attorneys working with both the seller and the buyer from the beginning. If you are contemplating a purchase of property to be used for business purposes, you should contact us in the earliest stage of the deal so we can advise and guide you through the negotiations.

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