Choosing A Real Estate Lawyer To Negotiate Your Home Purchase
Posted on May 7, 2011 | Real Estate Law.
You’ve found your dream house after months of searching. Now it’s time to find a real estate lawyer to handle the negotiations for your home purchase.
Finding a good lawyer is tricky. There are a lot of lawyers who specialize in real estate transactions but not all charge affordable rates so it’s always best to ask for recommendations from family and friends.
You have to be able to trust your lawyer completely to negotiate for you the best deal. Thus, an ideal real estate lawyer is one who has several years of experience under his belt and practices in the area where you are planning to buy your house.
Your lawyer should be able to explain clearly to you all the steps involved in the home purchase as well as the tax incidences of the transaction. If he has trouble answering any questions you may have regarding the transaction, then you have to find another lawyer.
At the onset, you should be comfortable with your lawyer so you can discuss any concerns you might have regarding the property you are about to purchase. You are paying for your lawyer’s time so he should be able to take care of you.
Your lawyer must be candid enough to disclose if there are possible sources of conflict between your interest and that of another client. After all, it is his sworn duty to do so.
Depending on your arrangement with your lawyer, you should be able to get in touch with him anytime you have a question regarding the property. Of course, you should also be considerate and reasonable with your demands.
Ideally, you should already have a real estate lawyer even before you choose to buy your dream house. However, you may hire one at any time during the negotiation and prior to affixing your signature into any document or contract.
Wipe Out Your Debt and Keep Your Property
Posted on May 5, 2011 | Real Estate Law.
So many people that I meet with and who file bankruptcy simple have no idea what bankruptcy is all about before they have met with me. Once they learn about all of the benefits, and there are so few negatives, they always say they wish they would have done this a lot sooner.
Had they known all the benefits of bankruptcy, they could have filed six months or a year ago, instead of having wasted a lot of money on debt consolidation or having paid bills that it could have been easily wiped out along time ago by filing for bankruptcy sooner.
One of the most common misconceptions I hear is that people believe that if they file for bankruptcy they are going to have to give up their house, car, jewelry, and other valuable personal possessions. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
When you file a successful Chapter 7 you wipe out all of your unsecured and you keep all of your property.
So, when you successfully file a Chapter 7, you get a discharge from all of your debts, meaning all of your unsecured debts are legally forgiven, within about 4 months after you have filed your case. Once your case is filed, none of your creditors can pursue you anymore. All lawsuits have to stop. All wage executions have to stop. Any freezes on your bank account have to be released. None of your creditors can call you, write to you, or have any contact with you whatsoever. If they do they are violating the law and you could actually ask the bankruptcy court to give you money because they have violated your right.
I practice in New Jersey and New Jersey follows the Federal Bankruptcy Law with respect to what property you are allowed to keep and still wipe out your unsecured debt. The term that is used to describe the property that you can keep is “exemptions”.
Exemptions basically define what properties you are allowed to keep and still wipe out your unsecured debts. You can own a house and still wipe out your unsecured debts, but there are some limitations on how much equity you can have in your house.
The federal bankruptcy exemption permits a minimum of $43,250 equity in a couple’s home. This means that as long as you don’t have more than $43,250 equity in your home, as a married couple, you can still keep all your property when you file for bankruptcy.\