In a typical residential real estate transaction, you may not be in contact with a lawyer before your realtor has assisted you with negotiating an agreement of purchase and sale. If the agreement involves some unusual terms or if you are not comfortable with signing the agreement before speaking to a lawyer, your realtor typically will be glad to assist you in making the necessary arrangements.

In either event, once your agreement of purchase and sale has been signed and all conditions met, your lawyer should be instructed to proceed with the investigation of the title and all other steps required to prepare to actually complete the purchase of your new home.

If all of the searches go smoothly, you may not hear much more from your lawyer until perhaps ten days to two weeks before the actual closing, at which time your lawyer should be in a position to provide you with details as to the actual amount of money which you are required to pay in addition to any mortgage which you may have arranged in order to close the transaction. The actual meeting to review & execute documentation will typically take place a day or two before closing at a mutually convenient time.

If any difficulties are encountered with any of the searches which your lawyer will be conducting, you will likely hear from your lawyer as soon as those matters come to his or her attention and he or she will discuss with you alternative methods for dealing with these issues and seek your specific instructions as to how you would prefer to proceed.

Most lawyers will be prepared to give you some idea of the cost which will be incurred in retaining their services for the purchase transaction and you should ask them for an estimate at the time you retain their services. The costs of the transaction generally fall into two categories, fees and disbursements. The disbursements are the costs which the lawyer must expend on your behalf to conduct various inquiries about the title to the property.

The out-of-pocket disbursements incurred can range from $400.00 to $600.00 depending upon the cost of title searches, searches for executions and the actual searches and inquiries which must be made. The fee portion of the costs represents the compensation to the law firm for lawyer's time and general office overhead and that fee will vary from office to office.

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