- 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 a real estate attorney to review and negotiate the sales contract and rider 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 accept the contract terms.
Helpful tips for choosing 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 want to preserve your privacy by buying an apartment under an LLC formed for such a 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.