While June represents the start of the summer season and the end of the school year, it is also significant in another way. Nationally, June is the most popular time of year for real estate sales and purchases, according to Realtor.com. The team at Kennelly Business Law has more than two decades of experience handling real estate transactions for our business clients, acting as a trusted resource focused upon protecting assets, maximizing revenue, and improving opportunities. Having been involved in so many transactions, we have seen shining examples of best practices, as well as far too many examples of what not to do. Here are our top tips for successful real estate sales and purchases:
- Have a purchase agreement – while this might sound like common sense, you’d be surprised by how many moving parts there can be in any real estate transaction. The most important document, that will guide most of the rest of the process is the purchase agreement, or contract. This means a clear, written agreement that has been reviewed and approved by your attorney.
- Have an attorney do a title opinion – While not as commonly recognizable as the purchase agreement, a title opinion, approved by your attorney, a title opinion is essentially an attorney’s guarantee that their client owns the property in question without encumbrances. This is typically done by an attorney conducting a title search, and producing a statement of title opinion regarding the property’s chain of ownership.
- Buy title insurance – No matter how diligent your attorney’s effort in title search and opinion, title insurance is vital to further protect your business during a real estate transaction. Title insurance protects the insured from matters that may have occurred prior to your interest in a property. Title insurance involves paying a one-time premium for the insurance policy and remains in effect until the property is sold to a new owner–even if that doesn’t occur for decades.
- Buy owners title coverage – For some reason, many clients think of title insurance is the only insurance necessary during a real estate transaction. However, many title insurance policies cover only the lender involved in such a transaction. Owner’s title coverage ensures a buyer has a support system and team standing behind them in case a title problem arises after you complete the transaction.
Regardless of whether you’re buying or selling, the Kennelly Business Law family of support stands ready to support, advise, guide and insure your real estate transaction. At Kennelly Business Law, our team of experienced attorneys can help you with your real estate transaction or any other aspect of business law. Contact Chris Kennelly at jeff@kennellybusinesslaw.com or any of our experienced team members at 701-478-4900 today to learn more!