Title Tip: Do You Need An Attorney For Your Real Estate Transaction?
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Do you need an attorney for buying real estate in Texas? This is a question frequently asked by out-of-state folks purchasing a property in the Lone Star State.
It can be a tricky question to answer. No title agent wants to advise someone to forgo consulting an attorney if they want one. In this litigious world, that’s risky. Hiring a lawyer before making any kind of major purchase is up to the individual.
Attorney States vs. Everyone Else
Every U.S. state has its own laws, practices, and procedures when it comes to real estate transactions. Almost half of all states are “attorney states” where an attorney must be part of the real estate sale.
In some states, title agents and escrow offices don’t exist. Attorneys are the escrow officers. In other states, an attorney may be required to supervise the transaction or handle the closing. The court or legislation in each state dictates the extent of required attorney involvement.
Texas is not an attorney state. Title companies and escrow officers handle real estate transactions in Texas. It is not standard practice to hire a separate lawyer for the purchase or sale of a home.
In Texas, the title company is a neutral third party. They do not represent the buyer or the seller. They represent the transaction and the insurance company that is insuring the transfer of the title. The real estate agents represent their respective clients.
While I would not discourage any buyer or seller who wants to hire their own legal representation, it is unusual in Texas. In my opinion, the reason most parties to a transaction don’t spend additional money on legal fees is that mortgage lenders and title companies do not allow their documents to be altered or amended. A client may bring their own attorney to the closing table to look over documents but no changes are likely to be made. In my experience, after a lot of nodding, the transaction closes as usual.
When should you hire a real estate attorney?
The time to consult an attorney is usually before signing a contract. Once the contract is agreed upon, the terms can be very difficult to change unless both parties agree.
On occasion, a transaction may be particularly complicated and a buyer or seller may need a lawyer. Some deals could involve ongoing lawsuits, estates with missing heirs, disputed liens, etc. If the title to a property is not clear, the title agent will usually let the buyer or seller know when they need to speak with an attorney.
Typically, large transactions involving a sales price of eight figures or more will have lawyers involved with the contract. And if one party defaults on a contract, sometimes attorneys get involved then too.
Regardless of how simple or complex the sale may be, both buyer and seller should feel that they have proper communication and understanding of their transaction. If they need legal counsel to do that, then they should seek it.
The opinions expressed are of the individual author for informational purposes only and not for legal advice. Contact an attorney for any particular issue or problem.
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This is a great question and like many things depends. If you use a TREC contract, you are using a contract form that generally equally represents the buyer and the seller. This is particularly true if you don’t add in a lot of “other provisions.” However, if you buy a new home from one of the new home builders, many of them REFUSE to use any contract other than their own and those contracts are heavily slanted to the side of the seller. Check out things like statute of limitation, limitations or prevention of litigation along with numerous other provisions designed to bully the buyer in the event there is a dispute. THAT contract needs to be reviewed and revised by an attorney for the buyer, otherwise do not sign it!
Bought a home in Houston, TX in July 2, 2022. I bought the home via Zillow online & a realtor to represent me, through by Zillow recommended & have me use the info Zillow gave me the realtor to use, but she didn’t represent me at all! When I went to move my family over & I opened the door, the smell was unbearable! The floors of the home (the wood under the carpet) was damaged, wet & with mildew. All the walls were warped, electrical outlets were uncovered & bare wires were exposed. The 2nd floor when you walked would literally sink & I bet if a child jumped, the floor would collapse! There were many broken windows, microwave wasn’t connected & wires exposed, along with a large hole. Mold was around many walls. Wasps were dead but had entered due to having unsealed windows & having on 2 window sills had 2 large wasps nests. Bathroom tub was severely stained & around all windows & mirrors were rusted/mold; outside the house siding had to be replaced. The outside garage had large holes & the walls were covered with plastic tarp sheets & all shelves were damaged. My issue is that before I bought the home, I paid for: a Home Inspection, an Appraisal, & I also asked my Realtor to please check the house inside & she said the house was in good shape. The house didn’t even have the square feet the Zillow website said it had & the dark wood wall covering were attached for buyer not to see the damaged walls. I had a Contractor inspect the home, & was told that to bring the house to just be safe to live in would cost about $60k, I bought the home for $395k & paid at time of purchase about $68k & to try to move my family in, truck rental, gas expense, food & hotel expenses, caused me to pay out of pocket another $20k. I believe there was mortgage fraud involved & I was literally targeted since I was buying a home out of state & totally relied on my Realtor to prevent me from buying a house that was a dump & sadly, this was exactly the type of home she allowed us to buy, without protecting our standards & even disregarded our wishes. Making her unfortunately a person who ‘s supposed to be a professional, very unprofessional, unreliable, & untrustworthy to do a wonderful job. She was very shortsighted, because I had already had a group of people who were also interested in moving to Houston, TX. She ended up missing numerous amounts of income because she cheated & didn’t do right by me!! Her big loss!
Now, I need to see what to do to get this money back. Besides getting an attorney, do you have any advice on what to do next??
It’s great that you pointed out how hiring a lawyer before making any kind of major purchase is up to the individual. We want to buy a new property and we want to ensure that we won’t have any problems with it after our purchase. In order to do that, we need the assistance of a real estate lawyer.
I am from chicago area and want to sell the small share i have in two oil companies in Texas . I have the info and current holding companies but would like to know how to proceed. Since I don’t need a lawyer, do I just contact the Texas title companies and get a local realtor or is Oil property different?