CHICAGO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) FROM REAL ESTATE PURCHASERS

As a purchaser, you are not required to have an attorney represent you. However, it’s in your best interest to hire a real estate attorney. Purchasing a home can have a tremendous impact on your finances and future goals. As a purchaser, you want to be certain that the contract that you’re signing is fair and represents your interests. An experienced real estate attorney will be able to guide you through the transaction process and ensure that your interests are represented.

When you begin looking at property, you can contact our firm to explain that you have begun your property search. Once there is an executed contract, meaning that the real estate contract has been signed by both the buyer and the seller, you can formally hire our firm.

Our firm is paid at the end of the transaction at the closing.

The legal process begins with an executed contract. It’s critical that you or your real estate agent send us the real estate contract as soon as it’s signed by both parties. From there, we will begin the legal review of the contract. This process is called Attorney Review.

Attorney Review is a contractual period that allows the attorneys to make modifications or clarifications to the contract. This period allows either party to cancel for any other reason other than the purchase price. So, it’s crucial that this review period is closed efficiently and timely. If you are doing a home inspection on the subject property, then we include your home inspection repair requests in the attorney modification letter.

The Earnest money is a deposit to a seller which supports the buyer’s good faith in preforming the executed contract. The real estate contract will specify when the earnest money needs to be delivered and whether the brokerage, law firm, or title company will hold the earnest money deposit. The earnest money deposit will be used towards the purchase price.

There are very specific financing contingencies that protect you from being liable on the contract if you are not able to obtain lender financing. Our firm can help ensure that you fall within these contingencies. If you cannot obtain lender financing under normal circumstances, then an attorney will follow through with all the required steps to ensure that the contract is cancelled, and your earnest money deposit is released back to you.

Yes, our firm represents our clients through the entire process. We will attend the closing with our clients to ensure that all documents are correct.