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Selling your home can be a stressful time. The pressure is on and it feels like any small hitch could derail the whole process. In fact, it often can. Twenty-five percent of all home sales are delayed during closing due to an unexpected obstacle. Your real estate agent may have seen it all before, but they don’t necessarily have the legal expertise to resolve some of the tougher issues.

If you are in the process of selling your home, likely it’s not the only thing you’ve got going on. You may be moving, starting a new job, starting a new family, anything. It’s a time of transition and the last thing you need is to end up in a lawsuit. So, hire an experienced real estate attorney. You will be glad you did. Here are the top five reasons why.

#1 Real Estate Closings in Georgia Must Have an Attorney Present

In the State of Georgia, real estate closings are conducted by a real estate attorney. There are a number of reasons for this, but mostly it is to avoid mistakes. However, it is important to understand that this attorney is not your attorney. He or she is hired to oversee the sale of the property, but the attorney is not there to protect one side over the other.

#2 Resolve Title Issues Without Losing Sleep

As the seller in a real estate transaction, it is your job to provide real estate for sale that has free and clear title and no undisclosed conditions on the property. We will get to the property conditions in a moment, but first, you’ve got to have clear title to make the sale. After you accept an offer on your home, the first thing that will happen is a title company will start looking into your title. If they find anything — trust complications, liens on the property, unpaid property taxes, or cloudy title — the sale could be delayed or fall through. By working with an attorney, you can preempt some of these challenges before you even put the property up for sale and any unexpected title challenges can be dealt with quickly and accurately. It can take a lot of documentation to clear title, and it’s definitely not something you want to do alone.

#3 Have a Strong Advocate in Negotiations

Before closing, the buyer will want to have the home inspected to confirm that there are no undesirable conditions on the property. If the inspection shows anything — mold, environmental issues, structural problems — the buyer and his or her agent will want to start negotiating. Everything is on the table: price, who will pay for repairs, whether repairs need to be done before or after closing. An experienced real estate attorney, trained in the art of negotiation, will be a valuable asset in this part of the process.

#4 Save Money in the Long Run

Hiring a real estate attorney from the get-go, before you even put your house on the market, may seem like an unnecessary expense in an already bank-breaking process. We have seen it go wrong so many times: waiting to hire an attorney until there is a serious legal problem ends up costing way more than simply hiring an attorney to protect you throughout the process. The amount of time and money it costs to unwind a thorny title or messy escrow issue is exponentially higher than the cost of hiring a lawyer from the start. Don’t let the sale get away from you. Make the investment up front to save time, stress, and money down the road.

#5 Dot Every ‘I’ and Cross Every ‘T’

Even if no problems arise during a home sale, an attorney on your team puts your mind at ease. You can go into the sale of your property knowing that every single line of every closing document has been reviewed and approved by your legal counsel.

Work with Experienced and Versatile Atlanta Real Estate Attorneys

At Brian M. Douglas & Associates, our attorneys are not just real estate lawyers. We are experienced in a wide array of commercial and residential real estate matters, including asset protection, corporate entities, and real estate investing. Our experienced attorneys have seen and done it all, so we have what it takes to work efficiently, effectively, and creatively on your behalf. Give us a call to set up an appointment at (770) 933-9009.