- Complete
Choosing Between a Condo and Co-op
- Current
Hiring a Closing Attorney
- Incomplete
Finding an Apartment to Buy
(Estimated timeframe: 1 – 3 days)
Once the seller has accepted your offer, you will need to hire a real estate attorney to review and negotiate the sales contract details. Real Estate Attorneys in New York City represent both buyers and sellers. The seller’s attorney will put together a sales contract for the attorney representing the buyer to review.
An attorney is needed to perform due diligence, review the building’s financials, offering plan, house rules, by-laws, and legal structure to ensure that you can accept the contract terms.
Helpful tips for picking a good real estate lawyer:
- Do not hire an attorney that does not specialize in NYC real estate.
- If you don’t already know a good real estate attorney, ask for referrals from friends or your buyer’s agent. At Elika, we can recommend a list of closing attorneys we have vetted over the years from successful transactions. (we do not collect referral fees from attorneys we recommend.)
- Fees typically range from $1,500 to $2,500 for the average transaction. Expect to pay extra if you would like to preserve your privacy by buying an apartment under an LLC formed for such purpose.
- Ensure the fee includes due diligence and that your attorney (not another or a paralegal ) will be visiting the managing agent’s office to review the building’s financial statement, offering plan, and board minutes. Your attorney also requests the managing agent to provide a questionnaire about bed bugs, noise complaints, reserve funds, leaks, major capital improvement projects, etc.
- Confirm if any of the attorney’s fees are refundable should the deal not go through.