Legal Help for Selling Real Estate

Protect Your Financial Investment During a Property Sale

As the real estate market improves in Illinois, many people are looking to sell their house, condominium, vacation home, or vacant land. If you're looking to cash in on your property investment, turn to the Law Office of Joan Vasquez for help.

Engaging in a large financial transaction means you need an experienced real estate attorney to assure you understand all of the documents you have to sign and make sure nothing goes wrong. Our skilled attorney can help you protect your financial investment. Contact us today or fill out our online form for a consultation.

Why Sellers Work With a Real Estate Attorney

Real estate transactions can be risky for sellers. Some common issues that can arise include:



• The buyer wants to back out of the deal at the last minute
• The buyer fails to pay earnest money
• The buyer's financing falls through
• The buyer has a sale of home contingency
• The buyer wants to walk away from the deal after the property inspection
• The title insurance company refuses to cover potential problems with the title
• A survey discloses encroachments
• You're unaware of what documents are needed for your transaction
• You're responsible for unknown costs that will reduce the amount you expected to net from the transaction

Our trusted attorney will minimize your risk to ensure you realize the full value of your real estate investment. Call us today!

Walking You Through All Phases of the Transaction

Many sellers opt to hire an attorney at closing or only seek counsel to resolve problems that arose. Hiring an attorney at the start of the real estate transaction process will avoid those potential problems and ensure you're fully aware of everything that's happening. Our services include:



• Contract review and advisement of potential problems
• Suggest and present any necessary modifications to the buyer's attorney
• Monitor the approval of the buyer's financing
• Handle buyer or attorney negotiations regarding possible property inspection issues
• Negotiate with buyers on your behalf regarding request to modify the contract
• Order an updated survey if necessary to ensure there are no unpermitted encroachments
• Order, prepare, and review the title insurance commitment to make sure you're able to transfer a marketable title to the buyers
• Order payoff letters for all existing loans
• Compile and ensure the closing statement is accurate
• Confirm all real estate and transfer taxes are paid
• Prepare or review all necessary closing documents such as the deed, bill of sale, and disclosure statement
  Meet with you at or before closing to explain the documents prior to you signing
• Prepare a post-closing binder to provide a permanent record of all important documents from the real estate transacation

Short Sale Assistance

When a seller can't make their mortgage payments, they are forced to sell to avoid foreclosure. Selling a home for less than the mortgage balance owed is known as a short sale. A short sale is typically preferred over a foreclosure because you might be able to avoid the lender obtaining a judgement against you and collecting deficiencies. However, short sales are more complex than typical real estate transactions.

An experienced real estate attorney can help you negotiate with your lender to accept less than is owed in exchange for releasing the property lien. Sometimes, you can even negotiate with your lender to waive any deficiency against you when the sale proceeds will not pay off your loan. Many lenders negotiate favorable terms for a short sale instead of committing themselves to the expensive, time-consuming foreclosure process. Since personal liability issues can place your other assets at risk, you should never enter into a short sale without the advice of an attorney.

Our short sale services include:

• Negotiate the sale terms with the lenders, including any financial contribution you're asked to make
• Review and negotiation of the language used in the lender's short sale approval letter
• Assist with the preparation of financial statements and disclosures necessary to show the lender you're qualified for a short sale