Posted by JT-IN on September 09, 2003 at 21:12:53:
Bill:
I applaude you meeting with an Atty prior to getting knee deep in a deal. I think that this is the move every wannebe RE investor should take.
Yes, $ 195.00 is a lot of money, but can you imagine how much it would cost, (at 195 or 250 per hour), to untangle a mess that you may make on your own, that could have been avoided with proper docs…? Go ahead and have your basic set of docs worked up, P&S Agreement, Disclosures, etc… and then wait on the more specialized docs for review. Don’t forget… that when you make some money, get back to having the rest of the docs updated.
This sounds like you have found the right Atty, based upon his advice thus far… Just being conversant on the Subj To issue puts him head and shoulders over most RE Attys. He sounds like a good one to work with… about the part about “doing anything as long as it is legal”. You gotta love that attitude in an Atty…
As the old saying goes… You think education is espensive, try ingnorance… Of course you have opted for tbe best approach up front, which will also add to yor confidence when approaching potential deals.
I met with a local attorney the other day. I live in an area with about 100k people so there are not many real estate attorneys. In fact he was the only one that does strictly real estate. Well I started off throwing out words such as pre-forclosures, land contracts and sub-2s. I was pleasantly surprised that he had heard of and understood everything I mentioned. Here are some things he said.
-Our state (WI) is much harder than other states to invest creativley because we are a consumer oriented state and the courts try hard to protect them.
-He has no problem with sub2 or ILCs but says he thinks you should give the homeowner 72 hours to think about the deal or else you could get in big trouble.
-He would be willing to help with all deals, saying that a ILC would take minutes but things such as subs and trusts could take days to prepare (at $195/hr)!!!
-Said he does closings, double closings, basically anything as long as its legal. He said closings range from $275-$1200. How does that sound?
-Told me he would edit my contracts(Bronchicks). Well he said he would take the legal Wi contracts and add whatever I wanted from Bronchicks contracts.
I told him I wanted to start with the purchase and sale agreement because I would need that for any deal. he said it would be about $150 to do it. Does that sound like alot? He knows his stuff but how I am worried about how much it will cost me to get going.
Any thoughts? Do you think I could do some of this myself?