Hartford Real Estate Attorney

Your real estate agent and your attorney have very different roles in the transaction, but they should work together closely. Your agent will help you make or accept an offer and form a contract using a form approved by a Board of Realtors, but agents are not allowed to practice law. Most contracts have an attorney review clause, so your attorney can have a few days to review it and help with any drafting needs. Your agent will help you manage the inspections, and if there are issues, your attorney may be called upon to draft language reflecting their resolution. Agents typically monitor contract deadlines and seek extensions if needed. If you are buying, your attorney will obtain a title search and review it to see if there are problems and what liens need to be released. If you are selling, your attorney will obtain releases of mortgages. Buyer’s and seller’s attorneys work together to make sure all appropriate documentation is prepared for the closing and reach an agreement on closing figures.

Aside from establishing the price, deposit, closing date, etc., your contract has many provisions in it for the protection of both sides. It is always a good idea to review the contract with your attorney and not make any assumptions. If you are buying, it is imperative to be aware of the contingencies put in the contract for your protection. The inspection contingency gives you the right to inspect the property using a licensed professional and do appropriate testing for things like radon or lead paint. The mortgage contingency states that you must secure mortgage financing to complete the purchase, and it gives you the right to back out and receive your deposit back if you are unable to. However, you must comply with the deadlines and other requirements of these clauses to take advantage of these protections, or you will lose them.

Under Connecticut real estate law, the contract closing date is best thought of as a target, not something carved in stone. That doesn’t mean you can ignore it, but it does mean that it’s not 100% certain that the closing will be on that date. Buyers and their lawyers are at the mercy of that bank to finalize the closing date: without “clear to close” from the lender, the closing can’t occur. Lenders issue commitment letters that contain conditions, and until all those conditions are satisfied, your lender won’t give you the all clear to close.

Title insurance provides you with protection that you are getting a “marketable title” to your property. If you are getting a mortgage, your bank will require that you purchase a “mortgagee” policy that only protects the bank. The cost of adding an “owner’s” policy to protect you is usually only nominally more. There are many defects to a real estate title that may not appear in a title search, which title insurance can protect you against. Also, mistakes can be made in a title search. The cost of straightening out a title problem is always many, many times greater than the cost of the insurance.

If you are getting a mortgage, your bank will give you a Good Faith Estimate, or GFE, right after you apply. This will give you a worst-case scenario of your closing costs, because by law, the bank can’t increase its fees from the GFE and will conservatively estimate those costs that are subject to increase. The reason it takes until what seems like the “last minute” to get your final closing figure is that many figures have to be calculated based on the day of the closing. You should have a pretty good idea from the GFE, but the numbers won’t be finalized until a day or two before the closing.