Buying a new home in TV
 

I was told that it is not necessary to hire a real estate lawyer to represent me at closing on a new home. Is this common practice? It does not sound right to me.

I was shocked, but there was no need for a lawyer.

On the other hand, I never heard of being represented by a lawyer at closing. I thought all closings were handled by title companies.

No need, the paperwork is almost always perfect when you get to closing. I say almost because there were last minute corrections to the down payment information in the documents due to my mortgage company sending over changes the night before that were forgotten. It was fixed in minutes and everything went smoothly.

They do 10 closings a day in The Villages, it's in their best interest to do it right every time and not have any hiccups. There are lots of lawyers and realtor living in The Villages that would catch any problems during closing and would raise a stink.

You'll find, as have all the contractors, that information about bad experiences travel very fast in The Villages. More than one contractor has gone under due to word-of-mouth information.

Read everything at closing if you haven't already. Everything is spelled out in black and white. Too many people don't and later say "I don't know..." or "they didn't tell me...". Whatever your realtor said or promised is irrelevant unless it is in the contract. Some, not all, of the sales force are kin to used car, vacuum, encyclopedia, or snake oil salesmen who will say anything to make a sale. If it's not in writing in your contract, you're not going to get it.

It will be the easiest closing you will go through for buying a house.

On a new home the developer uses its own contract and other documents. I have never heard of a case where the developer was willing to alter any of its conditions which makes a buyer spending money on an attorney hoping to change any provisions pointless. It is what it is. BTW, the sales agents working for the developer are licensed by the state of Florida to sell real estate but they are not Realtors so they are not held to the Realtor code of ethics.

Please share with us who told you that.

I guess the question would be, who used a lawyer and were they successful in changing anything in the contract? I suspect the answer is no but would be interesting to hear what was able to be challenged.

In NJ you have to use a lawyer. (We have bought and sold homes in 5 states and NJ is the only one that required a lawyer.)

kathy

We lived in Atlantic county in NJ and bought and sold 6 houses and never used a lawyer. This was from 1981 to 2019. All paperwork was completed by the title company.

In Central, Northern & Western N.J. not only do you need a Lawyer at closing but sometimes a Suit Of Armor is appropriate. I will be represented in Florida In The Villages for my next closing without a doubt. I have absolutely no problem to report from our first closing but for $500 I want someone to look things over on my behalf. The majority of the people I know didn't lawyer up for their Villages Closing and have had no problems.

How about THE FACT that you can not bring a Certified or Cashiers Check to a Florida Closing. It has to be via wire transfer. If there is one number off the possibility exist's that your money will end up in only God knows where and you will not be able to retrieve it in many cases. This was my experience anyway, yours may differ. Good Luck with to the OP with your decision.

Both seller and buyer must be represented by lawyers in Massachusetts at closings but not when we closed on our home in The Villages. What a relief!

I would say no, a lawyer is not necessary. However your real estate salesman needs to be honest and ethical.

When I lived in NJ I never used an attorney my brother in law was a salesman, broker and had his own real estate firm. I used him not attorney. I only knew of people to use an attorney for sale by owner or foreclosure sales

This is one of the reasons why we chose to go through an "outside-the- bubble" realtor to purchase our home here. We certainly were not interested in buying a new home in what was the barren south several years ago.

The title company really doesn't care about you. They will get their money, no matter if you get screwed or not. Why would you buy something for $300k+ and have no one who knows what you're signing attend. What might it cost you, $300-400 for a real estate lawyer to read over the paperwork for you before closing so everything is in YOUR best interest? Not the lender or title company.