Are you entering into a real estate deal in the Garden City, NY, area? If so, you’re likely already aware of the financial and legal stakes at play, and know you need experienced legal guidance on your side. At Yaqubie Law, we can review, negotiate, and draft real estate agreements to help you secure terms that truly protect your interests. Contact us today for an initial case evaluation with a Garden City real estate attorney and learn how our firm can guide you through every stage of your transaction with confidence and clarity.
Why Professional Contract Review Matters
Real estate contracts often cover complex issues that have significant long-term implications, including the exchange of property rights and substantial sums of money or financial obligations. Without experienced legal counsel to protect your rights and interests, you might face issues like:
- Ambiguous contract terms that allow parties to have differing interpretations or understandings of their rights or obligations
- Inadequate scope, meaning that contracts have loopholes or do not address contingencies that can lead to legal disputes
- Unfavorable clauses that excessively limit your rights or put undue obligations on you
- Title issues
- Lack of adequate disclosures
- Hidden liabilities attached to the property
A real estate attorney can draft or review your contract to help you avoid misunderstandings, reduce the risk of legal disputes, and protect your rights.
Key Types of Real Estate Contracts We Handle
At Yaqubie Law, our real estate attorneys can help you draft or review real estate agreements such as:
- Purchase and sale agreements: Buying or selling real estate is typically conducted through purchase and sale agreements, which govern issues such as the purchase price, payment terms, escrow, closing contingencies or conditions, and representations and warranties.
- Commercial leases: Leasing commercial real estate to businesses typically involves drafting bespoke lease agreements between the tenant business and the landlord.
- Residential leases: Negotiating and drafting residential leases requires compliance with state and local laws and regulations that protect residential tenants, including fair housing laws, security deposit laws, and statutory eviction procedures.
- Option agreements: Option agreements can include right-of-first-offer or right-of-first-refusal contracts, which give optionholders preferential rights to purchase property.
- Land use agreements: Developers may enter into agreements with property owners or local municipalities to govern the specific use or development of real estate.
- Easements and covenants: Easements give other parties the right to use or traverse another party’s property, while covenants typically entail a promise by a property owner to do something or refrain from doing something with their property.
- Real estate construction or development contracts: Construction or development agreements may involve coordination among the various parties involved in a construction project or the development of real estate, including property owners, investors, developers, general contractors, and subcontractors.
Our Real Estate Contract Review Process
When you turn to Yaqubie Law to draft or review a real estate agreement, you can expect our legal team to:
- Consult with you to discuss the details of the transaction and your goals, needs, and concerns, to develop a tailored legal strategy
- Review proposed agreements, going over every term to assess accuracy with your understanding and intent, compliance with applicable laws, and potential legal risks to you
- Negotiate with the other party or their legal counsel to pursue revisions of unfavorable or unenforceable terms
- Prepare a finalized agreement based on the deal terms you have reached with the other party
- Guide you through the final review, signing, and closing to affirm that all parties have fulfilled their conditions precedent to closing
Common Issues Identified During Contract Review
A real estate lawyer can review a proposed contract to identify potential issues or deficiencies in the agreement, such as:
- Vague contract terms
- Missing contingencies, such as inspection, financing, or title searches
- Undisclosed property defects, such as structural or foundation issues
- Zoning limitations that render a property unsuitable for the buyer’s purposes
- Unfair allocation of liability or excessive indemnity clauses
- Unfair restrictions on remedies for breaches of contract
- Unclear timelines or conditions for closing
- Contract provisions that violate local, state, or federal real estate and housing laws
- Misaligned responsibilities among parties
An attorney can spot issues or red flags during contract review, allowing you to negotiate over any problematic contract terms to address the enforceability or fairness of those provisions.
The Benefits of Having an Attorney Draft Your Contract
There are several advantages to having a real estate attorney draft or review your real estate agreement, including:
- Ensuring the contract reflects your understanding and intent: An attorney can review and confirm that the contract’s language reflects your intent and your understanding of the deal you reached with the other party.
- Reducing the risk of litigation: A lawyer can help you create a comprehensive, clear real estate agreement, which can avoid misunderstandings or conflicts between you and the other party that might otherwise escalate to costly and time-consuming litigation.
- Complying with local, state, and federal laws: Various laws and regulations govern real estate contracts, and it’s important to have a lawyer who understands these laws in detail and can draft a contract that complies with them and thus becomes an enforceable agreement.
- Creating practical, reasonable, and enforceable terms: An attorney can ensure that a contract creates a fair agreement between you and the other party, which can support the enforceability and reasonableness of the agreement by avoiding a one-sided contract that unfairly advantages the other party at your expense.
Contact Our Firm for Guidance with Your Real Estate Contract
Real estate contracts like purchase and sale agreements often involve substantial financial commitments. You deserve to have an experienced attorney by your side to protect your rights and investments at every stage. At Yaqubie Law, we provide skilled legal guidance to help Garden City, NY, residents negotiate, draft, and finalize real estate contracts with confidence. Contact us today for a confidential consultation with a Garden City real estate lawyer and discover how professional legal counsel can make a critical difference in your transaction.