The Pros and Cons Of Hiring A Real Estate Lawyer

You're travelling in a foreign country and you get arrested for something that you didn't even know was against the law. The potential fine is huge, more than you earn in 10 years. Would you represent yourself in front of judges who might not even speak your language? Not if you had any sense you wouldn't. You'd probably hire a lawyer.

Let's think about that. Most people are not willing to risk 10 years salary when they're in front of the judge, yet those same people are willing to risk that same amount of money, or more, whenever they buy real estate in a foreign country.

What's the risk? There are plenty.

Not being fully aware of the laws that affect the ownership of real estate for starters. In some cases, you're not only subject to the laws of real estate ownership which affect any property owner in that country, but there may be special laws which affect only foreign owners as well as local laws which differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Perhaps you're not an expert at reading the language that the purchase and sale agreement is written in. Maybe you'll overlook terms or conditions that would be a deal-breaker if you were aware of their presence.

And then there are all of the considerations which affect any buyer whether they are a foreign national or not. Things like zoning or permitted use laws, neighborhood or condo association by-laws, environmental restrictions, tax issues, and all of the other little gremlins that can pop up and turn a great deal into a great deal of misery.

Those are the kinds of things that a Real Estate lawyer is trained to handle. It's not good enough to have your family lawyer or corporate lawyer review the deal. If you want an iron-clad real estate purchase and sales agreement which addresses all of the unique and common issues that you face as a real estate buyer in a foreign country, then you need to hire a real estate lawyer who is licensed to practice in that country. Nothing else is "good enough".

So, if the advantages of hiring a Real Estate lawyer are so obvious, what, if any are the disadvantages of using one for your foreign real estate transactions?

First, a Real Estate lawyer will add cost to the transaction because of his or her fees. While these costs are usually not excessive, they are a consideration.

If you are a seasoned buyer of real estate in a particular country then you may not need a Real Estate lawyer to guide you through the intricacies of property ownership.

Using a Real Estate lawyer may cause the deal to close at a later date due to his or her need to review and revise the purchase and sale agreement.

I'm not really sure, however, if these can be labeled as disadvantages considering the amount of money that you are about to invest in a deal where legal ramifications that pop up later could haunt you for life and drain all of the equity and more out of your foreign property.

If you find this information useful you should visit the site http://www.about-realestate.net where you will find lots of interesting articles related to this topic , all original and wrote by Dascar Daniel.

Also: David W. Higgins, David Bohnett and more.

Reality TV star and singer Heidi Montag has been hiding out by the beach this summer at a Malibu place she rented for $25,000 a month, according to the Multiple Listing Service. But she moved on in late August, and the gated contemporary is back on the market at $5.5 million.

A Long Beach couple struggling with mortgage payments find out their home's been auctioned off by Wells Fargo when the new owner's representative shows up on their doorstep.

Mike and Ellen Kahara knew times were tough. They'd run up about $30,000 in debt on their credit cards and had fallen about $8,000 behind on their mortgage payments.

The 1960s Buff & Hensman-designed Wong House has a pool, a walled garden and downtown and ocean views.

It seems as though actress Scarlett Johansson had no sooner sold her old place in the Hollywood Hills than she and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, closed on a house in Los Feliz for $2.9 million.

Completed a few years ago, a Normandy-style estate was built to look a century old.

Glen and Linda Keane felt guilty about tearing down the O'Melveny family home. After all, John O'Melveny was part of a group of Los Angeles businessmen who formed Lake Arrowhead Co. in the 1920s and oversaw the lake's development into a popular resort destination.

The mortgage giant quietly launches the HomePath program, which offers subprime-era terms for buyers: minimal down payments, no appraisals, no mortgage insurance and lower minimum credit scores.

If you're a buyer with little cash or a small-scale investor looking for a deal on a foreclosed house, a little-publicized national lending program could be just what you need this fall.

How some of our previously featured properties have fared in the sales market.

Buff & Hensman-designed beach house

Lenders lose an estimated $310 million annually in undervalued short-sale transactions, according to a study released in August.

Question: I am fed up with my homeowners association and successive boards for sabotaging owner requests for records and refusing to fix maintenance problems in common areas that directly affect individual units. I believe I have no other choice than to sue the association and the boards. What are the steps I have to take?

Keeping tenant out over concerns of illegal activities may be viewed as a 'constructive eviction.' Such moves as changing the locks to prevent access can bring significant penalties.

Question: I own a couple of houses that I rent out for extra income. Unfortunately, they are not in the best part of our town. I have a tenant living in one of them who may be dealing drugs or doing something else illegal because the police have arrested him several times. Every time he is arrested he makes bail and returns to the house in a day or so. Even though he pays the rent on time, I realize that I can't continue to allow him to live in my house. My plan is to change the locks the next time he is arrested, so he can't come back into the house. I know that I need to protect his property inside the house if I do this, but my plan is to move his belongings into a storage locker. I can't afford a lawyer to file an eviction case, so this is my only alternative. Will I be OK if I do this?

July's increase from June in the National Assn. of Realtors' gauge for previously owned residences follows two straight months of declines and a report that sales of such homes dived 27.2%.

An index of home purchase contracts for previously owned dwellings unexpectedly increased 5.2% in July over June, the National Assn. of Realtors said Thursday, a modest note of good news for the U.S. housing market.