Today I had a closing for one of my listings in Evanston. I was curious to meet the buyer’s attorney since he had done such a poor job representing his client.
The buyer had my listing inspected during his 5 days of attorney and inspection (A&I) review. After the 5 days had passed I asked my sellers if they had heard anything from their real estate attorney regarding inspection issues. They called him and he said he hadn’t received anything from the buyer’s attorney.
This seemed quite strange to me since every home in all the sales I’ve been involved in has had at least one inspection issue. Even new homes aren’t perfect. There’s always at least some minor issue like an electrical outlet that isn’t properly grounded.
Several days later my sellers heard from their attorney that the buyer’s real estate attorney had called him with a list of inspection issues. My seller’s attorney informed the buyer’s attorney that he had missed the deadline for submitting inspection issues, but to go ahead, submit them in writing and he would see what my sellers were willing to do. The written list never appeared.
A week before the closing I received a call from the buyer’s agent asking if the fixes had been made. I informed him that no request for fixes had ever been received by the seller’s attorney. After getting over the surprise of my response, he grumbled that that was what his buyer got for hiring a lawyer friend of his who didn’t do much real estate law.
Instead of giving a brief explanation of what each piece of paper was that the buyer had to sign in the closing today, the buyer’s attorney just instructed the buyer to sign the stack of papers in front of him. The buyer would have had to sign the papers anyway, but it would have been nice for the buyer to understand what he was agreeing to.
Hiring a real estate attorney may not seem like a big deal, but consider that the attorney is helping you with what may be the biggest investment of your life. Don’t hire someone just because you went to high school together or you play on the same bowling team. Get an attorney that not only does a lot of real estate law, but is good at it!
If you’d like a suggestion for a good real estate attorney in the Chicago area, email me!
Fran Bailey specializes in downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park and Lake View condos, co-op apartments and houses. She has shared home buying and selling advice since 2006 and written about over 130 Chicago high rises. To schedule showings for any listings, get a 
