Attorney Recommendation
 

Hi, Does anyone know of a real estate attorney they can recommend for a house purchase in The Villages? Thanks!

You can get a list by calling the Bar association. I expect you will get opinions, on these threads, that you do not need an attorney. My opinion, at closing there will be only ONE party, the atty that you are paying that represents YOU

I would discuss it with McLin Burnsed. They will either represent you or suggest someone who will. Personally, I don't think you need an attorney, especially if you are an experienced buyer. But, don't make the mistake that many buyers do, that the real estate agent who drives you around and shows you houses is representing you. They are representing the seller, not you.

This is for a resale, not a new house purchase. Do you think an attorney is not needed in that case? & an experienced buyer, but out of state. Thanks for your attention.

Most buyers do not hire an attorney. The most important thing to get right is the sales contract. After that, the closing is pretty routine, and the closing company and all real estate agents are bound by Florida law to treat both the buyers and sellers in an ethical manner. If you do hire an attorney, I would be sure to get the attorney to agree to a fixed fee for his/her services. If you pay them by the hour, you may be very surprised by the final fees.

We wouldn’t close without an attorney. We used attorney based closing company, Advantage Title, LLC (352-430-1328). We used them three times and never disappointed. There are many gritty details when closing for property in The Villages. The fee was fixed when we employed them.

To clarify, are you saying that Advantage Title represented you exclusively, as the buyer, or did they just handle the closing transaction for both the buyer and the seller, which is the typical way that a real estate closing is done? I understood that the OP was asking about hiring a separate attorney (not a title company) who would represent their interests in the entire buying process, but would not also be representing the seller. Almost all real estate closings are done by a title company, but the title company does not represent the buyer as an exclusive client.

Ditto except we used them twice.

That would depend on what the two parties negotiate with the attorney based closing company.

All title companies have attorneys on their staff. The title company will handle the closing in a legal manner and will protect the interests of both the buyer and the seller. That is the way almost all real estate sales are conducted in Florida. The title company is not going to negotiate a special attorney representation for one of the parties exclusive of the other party. If you want an attorney to represent your interests exclusively, you would need to hire your own attorney who doesn't work for the title company. But, I don't think you will need a separate attorney. Note that the title company only gets involved in the transaction after the sales contract has been negotiated and signed by both the buyer and the seller. If you need your own attorney, you should hire them before you sign the sales contract because that is the most important legal document..

A fool and his money will soon be departed but we’re lucky to be together in the first place. Lawyer up. It’s inexpensive and you definitely sleep better when you’re represented!
The majority of closing are done with no lawyer but for us it was that way for the first house. I never let loose liked representing me. I did it because some heavy hitters in The Villages completed their purchases and sales without incident. My first purchase had a drainage issue and the customer the neighbor was looking for someone new to tangled with. If I had a lawyer he would have known that there was a court case already and the guy I bought from prevailed. Instead I had to do the leg work to come up with that conclusion. The lawyers in Florida are wimpy compared to N.J. Good Luck. I found a lawyer down here with some spunk. MILLHORN & SHANAWANY 352-205-4707. This office is on 441 up near Walmart but I saw another office on 301. In any case they are worth it.

I purchased 3 homes in the villages since 2013 - my daughter is a real estate agent in Illinois - when I sent her the sales contract used in the villages or with MLS realtors - her reply was that they are standard real estate contracts. I never used an attorney.

So to answer your questions I do not have any attorney recommendations for you in Florida.
On another note, I have bought hundreds of homes in several different states and never needed an attorney once.

I also recommend checking with McLin Burnsed. I used them to sell one Villages’ property and purchase another (both FSBO) in 2022 and was very satisfied. They know the process and the costs were very reasonable.

When I purchased my home three years ago, I used Bogin, Munns and Munns. The real estate attorney was excellent. Money well spent when you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.