Residential Real Estate
Most home sales do not need an attorney. This page is about the ones that do, and about knowing which is which before you spend money finding out.
A conventional sale with a lender, a title company, a licensed agent on each side and nothing contested is a well handled process without legal counsel. Saying otherwise would not be honest. The firm is not an alternative to a real estate agent and does not do agent work.
Residential property becomes legal work when something is contested, defective, or structurally unusual. That is a narrower set of situations than the industry generally suggests, and it is worth being specific about what belongs in it.
Situations that warrant counsel
- Title comes back clouded, or an exception appears that the closing cannot proceed over
- A party refuses to close on a signed agreement, on either side of the deal
- A defect surfaces after closing that the seller appears to have known about
- A boundary, fence, driveway or easement question involving a neighbor
- Seller financing or a land contract, where the document has to be built rather than filled in
- Sales between family members, or transfers involving a trust, an estate or a divorce
- Property held with a co owner who will not agree to sell, which may require a partition action
- A property with an existing tenant, where possession and deposits have to transfer correctly
- New construction where the builder's contract and warranty terms carry the risk
- Any transaction where the other side already has a lawyer and you do not
If your situation is a straightforward sale, that is what you will be told. Nobody bills a real estate attorney's rate for work that a title company and an agent already handle competently.
Residential matters by type
Questions about residential property
Do I need an attorney to buy a house in Michigan?
Not as a matter of law, and usually not as a practical matter either. Michigan closings are typically handled by a title company. It becomes worth having counsel when the transaction has something unusual in it, or when something is already contested.
My agent says I should have a lawyer look at the contract. Is that necessary?
It depends on the contract. A standard form for a conventional sale is generally fine. If the deal involves seller financing, a tenant, an occupancy period, an entity, a split parcel or unusual terms the form was not written for, a review is worth the cost relative to what is at stake.
I co own a property with someone who will not sell. What can I do?
Michigan provides a partition action, which allows a co owner to ask a court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split. It is a real remedy and it often produces a negotiated buyout once the other owner understands it is available.
What does this cost?
[FEE STRUCTURE]. Scope and fees are agreed in writing before work begins, and you will be told plainly if your situation does not warrant paying for legal work at all.
Ask before you need to, not after.
[PHONE]Matters with a closing date, a filing deadline or a hearing already on the calendar are handled by phone.