Are you in the process of shopping for a home, and finally found one that you are ready to make an offer on? Your real estate agent is likely telling you to get your team of professionals lined up, which will include a real estate lawyer to help with the transaction. Here is what a lawyer will do for you when buying a home.

Act In Your Best Interest

The most important part of having a lawyer on your team is that they are going to act in your best interest throughout the entire process. This is important when you are a first-time homebuyer that is unfamiliar with everything that is involved with buying a home since you are unaware of the problems that can come up suddenly and unexpectedly. When you make an offer on a home you will need to draft a formal document stating what you want to do. You don't just send the seller an email and say that you want the home. All of the documents that are created need to be made with your interest in mind, which includes ways to back out of the sale if necessary.

For example, you sign a contract saying that you will purchase the home and provide earnest money, you need provisions in that contract that state how you can get your earnest money back if the sale falls through. Your lawyer will ensure that those provisions are included, which can be things like if your financing does not come through, or if the home inspection comes back with red flags.

Perform a Title Search

There is also a process of performing a title search when you purchase a home, which means that your lawyer will verify that the title is free and clear to be purchased by you from the advertised seller. A title search will hopefully find any problems with the property, such as a court judgment against the owner where another person has a right to the home as a result. A title search and also discover situations where the seller is not the true owner of the home and cannot sell it. This is often the case when someone is selling property on behalf of someone that passed away, and the paperwork has not been completed to legally transfer the property. 

Reach out to a real estate law firm to learn more about how they help you buy a home.