So as you know we've found a house we love, we submitted our offer, and the seller accepted!! Well now what? Now you go into attorney review. But what's the first and most important thing you'll need before that - an attorney!! Hopefully you're realtor will be able to suggest a few names for you, which is what ours did. I'm a big fan of getting referrals from people so if your realtor doesn't give you any names (possibility although very unlikely) ask around - find out who your friends and neighbors used and if they liked them.
The things we were looking for in an attorney were:
#1 Do they have time for us right now?
#2 Do they have good communications skills?
*Normally I'd list price somewhere on there but I've found that all attorneys charge about the same in fees (plus or minus $200) and it's more important that you go with quality over cost at this stage of things.
My husband and I have a very fast closing time (30 days from when we submitted the offer) so we needed an attorney to be able to put our case first so we could get in and out of attorney review asap (we'll go over why this is so important a little later). I also wanted someone who would keep me in the loop as much as possible during this process. While this trait is harder to spot upon first impression you'll be able to get a good idea from your initial conversation with the attorney how well they communicate; did they answer your call on your first attempt, if not how long did it take to call you back, how much time did they spent on the phone with you, etc. Our realtor gave us the names of two attorneys she's worked with during past closings. I called both - I had to leave two messages for the first suggestion, while the second one was there when I called. We had a nice conversation about the house, her rates, her credentials, etc. By the end of our conversation I felt extremely comfortable with her and made the decision then to move forward with her and not wait for suggestion #1 to call me back (which he did later that day).
So far I've been very happy with our attorney - she's kept me in the loop as much as she can and since she's worked with our realtor multiple times in the past they have a great rapport with each other. I was extremely worried about this stage of things as my involvement in it is almost nonexistent. I've gone from having my hands in the pot to not even being allowed in the kitchen! Seeing as my OCD has kicked it up a notch since we've started house hunting I knew I wasn't going to do well. Which is why a communicative attorney is key! I've limited my interaction with her to one check-in email a day and she's been so great with getting right back to me and being honest about our time line. We submitted our draft letter to the sellers attorney yesterday and if all goes well we should be out of review sometime today. A draft letter basically states the points you want to be listed in the contract. For example: 10 days to do an inspection after attorney review, the option to back out if something crazy is found during inspection, the sellers are the ones who own the property and are not selling for someone else, etc.
Now on to the reasons why it's so important to get in and out of attorney review asap! The first and most important reason is that while in review if the seller receives a higher offer they can back out of your offer and go with the higher offer. Scary but true! However once you are out of review, the contract will be set and the seller will be locked into this deal and then you are the only ones who can walk away during that 10 day inspection window. The second reason you want to get in and get out is that nothing can move forward until you are out of review. You have to wait until you're out of review to schedule the inspection. If anything shows up in the inspection that you want the seller to fix or give you money towards fixing then another negotiation session begins, new docs need to be drawn up adding in the new stipulations, and everything will need to be resigned. We haven't gotten to that point yet so I can't even beginning to guess how long that will take but any delays might push back your initial closing date. You also won't be able to schedule the bank appraisal until after your out of review, and until after the inspection is done (no sense paying for the bank appraisal if your going to walk away after the inspection). A bank appraisal is very important as it will tell the bank how much the house is actually worth and lets them make the final decision on whether or not they are going to give you a loan to purchase the house. If the bank appraisal comes in to low you'll need time to fight the appraisal or find a new bank.
The best advice I can give you during this stage is to be comfortable with your attorney and stay busy. Work on getting all your docs to your mortgage company, start bringing boxes home for when you move, do your taxes ... anything to help keep your mind off the fact that you have no idea whats going on. I did all three of these suggestions and it's gotten me through 3 days of our attorney review. Feel free to share some suggestions of how you stayed busy during this time and how long your attorney review lasted!
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