The first thing that I always do when I am ready to buy, is interview real estate attorneys in the area. After I find an attorney that I am comfortable with, I will choose two realtors, one from The Villages and one MLS realtor. Then I will go house hunting. During this process of trying to find the right house for us, I will sign all required paper work from the realtor; binder, deposit, brokerage agreement etc. "subject to my attorneys approval" This way I can lesson the probability of mistakes and my attorney can protect me from signing something that is not in my best interest. I have found in the past that the cost of an attorney, when dealing with large amounts of money, like buying a house. Is well worth the cost.