Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer?

Written by Posted On Monday, 02 December 2019 06:43
Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer? Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer?

Real Estate Attorneys serving Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade & Florida State.

 

Video Transcript: Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer?

FAQ’s With Roy Oppenheim

Question people ask is do you need a real estate attorney? I presume this is going to be in the context of residential, because on the commercial context, you have no business buying or selling real estate without a lawyer. And in fact, I’ve rarely seen someone do that. So it’s obviously whoever is asking this question probably hasn’t bought real estate before and they’re somewhat new to the game, and they want to know do they really need a real estate attorney.

Why You Need A Real Estate Lawyer

My advice would be that yeah, it’s highly recommended. And you’re saying, ” Well, you’re saying that because you’re an attorney.” No, I’m saying that because I’ve seen, over the course of 30-some odd years what happens when someone doesn’t have lawyers involved in the transaction and how deals can go bad. I mean just as one example, I know people who were trying to buy real estate at foreclosure auctions, and they didn’t have an attorney and they thought they were buying a first mortgage.

Meaning that they thought that they were buying the real estate on the first mortgage, but instead they bought a lien on a second mortgage, and so they end up with the property for maybe six months and then they get a knock on the door and they get served with papers from the first mortgage, and then they lose the entire piece of real estate because they have no idea what they’re doing.

Now, that’s an extreme and that’s happened probably about a half dozen times to clients of mine who walk in after the fact, they aren’t clients of mine obviously before because that typically wouldn’t happen if I am representing. But that’s an extreme of why you would need a real estate attorney. But there are many other situations where if you’re buying real estate, and again, if the seller doesn’t want to sell after they’ve signed the contract. What do you do? Do just say, “Okay, that’s okay with me,” or do you then put, you know legal pressure on them or even end up suing them if necessary?

I’ve seen situations where realtors haven’t acted professionally and where you need lawyers to make sure that the realtors are acting professionally. So it’s always good to have a real estate lawyer by your side when you buying real estate. After all, it’s one of the biggest transactions that you’re going to do in your life and you should have a professional there for you. I mean typically, you know, when you have a toothache you don’t end up, you know, trying to pull the tooth by tying a string to the door and pulling the tooth.

You may do that if you’re a little kid and if it’s a baby tooth, but normally as an adult, we do not do that. And it’s the same thing here. We should not be doing something that we don’t typically do every day. And so you need to have the professional advice of an attorney when you buy real estate.

Oppenheim Law | Real Estate Attorneys Fort Lauderdale
2500 Weston Rd #404
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33331
954-384-6114

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Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer? Roy Oppenheim
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Roy Oppenheim

Roy Oppenheim has been practicing law since 1987 focusing his practice on all phases of real estate and real estate development and redevelopment from land acquisition to multifamily, retail, office hotel, industrial and mixed use development, as well as single family home development for sale and rent. Mr. Oppenheim has routinely represented developers, investors, home buyers and lenders in these commercial transactions in Florida and elsewhere in the United States. He has been involved in virtually every stage of the development process from acquisition, due diligence, title insurance, financing and closing of such projects. Mr. Oppenheim’s client turn to him for his sharp legal acumen along with his entrepreneurial background that allows Mr. Oppenheim to approach each matter from a pragmatic and refreshing background. Further, clients enjoy Mr. Oppenheim’s infectious passion for his involvement in their business as well as his unbiased legal opinion based on a holistic approach; rather than from a siloed perspective. From analyzing, negotiating to structuring deals, Mr. Oppenheim’s clients turn to him time and again for his advice. Mr. Oppenheim also represents Florida real estate brokers and Realtors, individual buyers, and sellers in connection with the purchase and sale of Florida real property as well as litigates real estate disputes involving both residential and commercial properties. Mr. Oppenheim also served as outside general counsel for various Florida companies over the past 30 years providing sound legal advice to start ups as well as mature businesses concerning various business and corporate matters including governance, expansion, acquisitions, borrowing, commercial litigation, and employment related matters. The myriad of businesses Mr. Oppenheim represents is vast including from the fields of retail, hospitality, entertainment, healthcare, technology, import-export, and wholesale. Many of these businesses have both a physical and/ or online presence. Mr. Oppenheim here again brings his over three decades of legal knowledge and business experience to his clients and their respective businesses. After Working for Milbank Tweed on Wall Street and White & Case in Miami, Mr. Oppenheim founded Oppenheim Law in 1989 with his wife Ellen Pilelsky where they began representing Arvida development and its various home builders amongst numerous national banks such as Northern Trust, Chase Bank and SunTrust Bank for over 15 years. Serving national, international, and local clients, Mr. Oppenheim has the highest rating (A-V) conferred by Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, the most respected directory of lawyers and law firms in the U.S. He has also been selected as a “Best Real Estate Lawyer in the United States” since 2012, a designation of only 5% of all Lawyers. The Firm also has a 10.0 rating, the highest rating from AVVO another distinguished national rating service. In 1989, Mr. Oppenheim also co-founded and served as general counsel to ShopSmart Corp., the company that originated and owned the GNC Gold Card Program, a program that continues to this day and was one of the first cross-promotional programs of its kind. In addition, in 1994, Roy co-founded Weston Title & Escrow, the oldest title company in Weston, Florida that serves all of Florida and has closed in excess of three billion dollars in transactions. Mr. Oppenheim currently serves as its Senior Vice President. In 1999, Mr. Oppenheim also served a one-year term on the board of directors for Catalina Lighting, a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Oppenheim is also designated by the Florida Secretary of State as an International Civil Law Notary, one of only 137 out of 106,000 attorneys in the State. In 2008, during the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession, Mr. Oppenheim and his team of lawyers represented 1000’s of homeowners that were unable to pay their mortgages and were facing foreclosures. Facing daunting odds and the rath of large foreclosure mills funded by the big banks Mr. Oppenheim helped establish a new legal practice area of foreclosure defense while helping these homeowners defend themselves against the banks. During that time Mr. Oppenheim became an outspoken critic of the banks and started the Southfloridalawbog.com which was voted the best business and technology blog by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The blog was syndicated to Yahoo! Homes, and Newsweek. Mr. Oppenheim routinely appeared on HuffPost Live, FOX News, and Lifetime TV and on WLRN Radio. In addition, he has been quoted in prominent national publications, including USA Today, The New York Times and Huffington Post, among others. Mr. Oppenheim has also co-authored and two law review articles, Deconstructing The Black Magic of Securitized Trusts, published in the Stetson University Law Review’s Spring 2012 Edition, and The Emperor’s New Clothes, published in the William & Mary Business Law Review Volume 6. Both addresses systemic legal problems with the residential foreclosure process at the time. During that time Mr. Oppenheim became an outspoken critic of the banks and started the Southfloridalawbog.com which was voted the best business and technology blog by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The blog was syndicated to Yahoo! Homes, and Newsweek. Mr. Oppenheim routinely appeared on HuffPost Live, FOX News, and Lifetime TV and on WLRN Radio. In addition, he has been quoted in prominent national publications, including USA Today, The New York Times and Huffington Post, among others. Mr. Oppenheim has also co-authored and two law review articles, Deconstructing The Black Magic of Securitized Trusts, published in the Stetson University Law Review’s Spring 2012 Edition, and The Emperor’s New Clothes, published in the William & Mary Business Law Review Volume 6. Both addresses systemic legal problems with the residential foreclosure process at the time. Admissions Florida Bar, 1987; Member of the Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section New York Bar, 1987; United States District for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 1987 U.S. District Court, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, 1993 Education Princeton University, A.B., cum laude, 1982 Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 1986 Member of the Northwestern University Law Review Member of the National Moot Court Team

https://www.oppenheimlaw.com

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