Real Estate Law at Engelman & Smith

Engelman & Smith since 1976 has professionally represented thousands of satisfied customers in real property transactions. For many, the purchase or sale of a home is one of the largest and most important legal transactions in their life. Our philosophy is threefold:

(1) make sure the deal closes as intended;
(2) save our client unnecessary cost, and
(3) protect our client's interest.

Why Use a Quality Real Estate Attorney? Buyers or sellers are sometimes tempted (or steered) to the cheapest possible lawyer, or, worse yet, advised not to use an attorney at all. Nothing could be more dangerous. Real estate sale contracts, riders, listing agreements, and mortgages are binding legal documents. In Evanston, the median home price is now over $150,000 and mortgages routinely obligate the buyer to pay a half-million dollars or more. Sloppy and rushed real estate work is a recipe for the growing number of lawsuits over residential sales. Nothing can be worse than when a dream home becomes a legal nightmare, or when a dissatisfied buyer comes back to haunt you. Hiring a professional real estate attorney is a wise investment. In truth, overall home transaction costs are cheaper in states where attorneys are used.

What Should a Real Estate Attorney Do for You? Professional handling of a residential real estate transaction, to protect the client, typically involves the following legal services:

• review of the real estate contract(s), addenda, and residential disclosures (required by law). Note that the standard form contract often used has not been drafted with the parties' interests in mind, but to facilitate sales, and that non-lawyers cannot advise a buyer or seller on its meaning or recommend language used.
• contact with the other party's counsel and contract negotiation as necessary
• monitoring home inspection and other deadlines
• addressing any issues raised by the home inspection(s)
• keeping abreast of all parties' progress in securing mortgages
• if representing a seller, obtaining title insurance as required by the contract for sale
• if representing a seller, obtaining the survey or condominium association documents as required by the contract for sale
• reviewing and dealing with any restrictive covenants
• reviewing title commitment policies for accuracy and for issues that may affect closing
• negotiating title issues
• reviewing the survey or condo association documents for any easement or property issues
• interfacing with the brokers, lenders, and underwriters and providing information as needed
• scheduling closings
• preparing closing documents
• calculating amounts necessary to close
• attending to payoffs of existing loans and mortgages
• attending to necessary municipal regulations, stamps, and water certifications
• attending the closing
• making sure documents are recorded with county recorder's offices

  and, most important

• responding to client needs and questions.

What Should Real Estate Legal Fees Cost? Can all the above be on the cheap? In our experience, no. Additionally, unexpected factors commonly arise in a transaction, including the quality of work done by the attorneys for the other parties, the needs and schedules of the lenders and brokers involved, the demands of the other parties, and unforeseen issues ranging from building defects to financing difficulties. In those situations the party who is poorly represented is at a severe disadvantage. We have seen many transactions where things are not done professionally, or sometimes the tasks are not done at all!

Engelman & Smith refuses to cut corners on a legal transaction this important. We feel that one of the largest financial transactions in the average person's life deserves to be done right, done professionally, and done on time.

However, legal fees in residential real estate are only a tiny fraction of the cost. We do not quote flat fees but lately the average sale or purchase with no more than minor problems is running $500-600; if possible we try to do it for less. Typically our time on a dual real estate transaction (sale of an old home and purchase of a new home) comes to less than 0.5% of the total combined prices; we can offer a cap of 1% regardless of the hours involved (unless there is litigation). Surveys cost approximately $200-300, which we do not mark up.

Normally we do not send out multiple bills on real estate, and simply state the total fees on the closing figure statement. If a sale is involved we receive payment out of the sale proceeds, requiring no out-of-pocket outlay by the seller. However, if you prefer we can bill monthly for legal services rendered and out-of-pocket costs advanced.

What Can The Client Do to Make a Transaction Easier? To facilitate a real estate transaction, we require the following as soon as possible:

• any listing agreement you have
• sale contract as soon as you have one (ideally you will discuss this with us before the offer, and we can supply a form)
• documentation of any outstanding mortgages or loans
• name, address, phone & fax of your lender
• the most recent survey of the property
• any deed for the property
• the two most recent tax bills for the property
• a water bill for the property
• information as to any special problems or needs

Title Services at Engelman & Smith. Engelman & Smith is an agent for Chicago Title, which means that we can obtain title insurance for you from Chicago's most well-established and accepted title insurer and that we will get the policy directly from CT&T (who has a location in downtown Evanston) instead of having to go through another agent. We do not bill you for this service; CT&T pays Engelman & Smith an agency fee as their agent. You have the right to use any insurer you prefer, but this firm was recommending our clients get CT&T title insurance services for many years, long before we were agents. Also, where a client retains us for the sale of a home and retains us for the purchase of a new home and purchases a CT&T policy through us, we can discount from the total hourly fees.

The above is not intended as a substitute for full legal advice, but only as general information. For legal advice, consult an attorney.

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