In California, you are not required to hire a real estate attorney in order to buy a home.
However, some lending and mortgage companies require you to use a lawyer. In these cases, you may want to get a referral to a real estate attorney who understands the nuances of real estate law for your specific area.
While you are not required to hire an attorney to buy a home in California, some buyers enjoy the legal protection of having a lawyer look through the paperwork and represent them at the closing table.
For example, real estate attorneys can ensure buyers are not taken advantage of in the lending process. They can review inspection reports, make recommendations for contracts, and work alongside real estate agents to create a positive buying experience for the homeowners.
Attorneys working in real estate are also deeply familiar with specific laws. So if your home purchase happens to be non-traditional (buying the home from an estate, for example), the lawyer can communicate how certain terms and taxes impact you.
If you work with a lawyer who does not specialize in real estate law, you could run into legal problems if certain laws are not considered and applied to the transaction.
Questions on Hiring a Real Estate Lawyer
If you still are not sure about hiring an attorney for your California home purchase, then please feel free to reach out to the Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) of San Diego County. Our bilingual staff can discuss your specific situation with you to determine if you need a real estate lawyer to buy a home.
I like that you pointed out that you don’t need to hire a lawyer. But I do agree that it would be smart to have one look over your paperwork. After all, a real estate attorney will know all of the things to look for.
I can see why having a lawyer at the closing table would be important to making sure that you have some legal protection and to prevent paperwork errors. My wife and I are thinking about buying a new house and could probably benefit from hiring an estate lawyer to make sure the deal is as fair as it can be. Thank you so much for the housing tips!
I liked that you had mentioned that hiring an attorney to help with the purchase can ensure that you aren’t taken advantage of during the lending process. My wife and I are looking into moving into a new home and we’ve been worried about the fully purchasing process. Knowing that if I hire a real estate lawyer that I can protect myself is actually very good because I’ve been worried about missing something during the purchase and having to live with that.
I agree with you when you said that although it is not required to hire a lawyer, having one will give a person the peace of mind knowing that they are protected legally and that there is someone to review the paperwork for them. That is the reason why I wanted a lawyer for the homebuying project next season. Not only do I want to be protected, I also want to make sure that the house that we will buy will not give us problems in the future. Thanks for sharing!