Few times in my life have I encountered something that I can’t understand, or don’t want to take the time to understand. One of those times was back in college when I was a 3rd year RA in the dorms and a resident came to me to confess he was gay. Yeah… what would you say? Now I am equally dumbfounded by the real estate process.
At first glance it seems easy enough, but the more I delve into the harder it gets. By harder, I’m not really refering to the paperwork or the process so much as the confidence that I’m covering myself. As a very good lawyer friend of mine told me: “Frankly, you don’t know what you’re doing.” She’s absolutely right.
I’m smart enough to know that I’m not informed enough to go through this process alone. To add more complexity, I have had about half a dozen different people give me their advice on how to acquire legal council. Most people tend to combine the legal advice with other parties in the process, however my lawyer friend again disuaded me from this. She said that any of these methods introduce a measure of forign influence into the equation and I need to have a lawyer that works for me alone.
I tend to agree. Within this mess already is a friend’s family lending company and a very friendly realtor who is representing the seller. From my experience it is ok to have a friendly business deal, but to have a business deal with a friend is bad news. Therefore I have no loyalties when in a business transaction. If I can get a better deal elsewhere, I will. This is already becoming an issue because my friend’s family lending company seems to be much more expensive in both closing costs and interest rate. Maybe you can see that this is quickly growing out of hand.
So today I hope to find a real estate attorney. Hopefully they can help me sort this mess out.
