Real Estate Attorney for Home Buyers

A real estate attorney for buyers in Illinois has one client and one job: make sure the house you agreed to buy is the house you get, on the terms you agreed to, with a title you can insure and resell. The agent found the house and wrote the offer. The lender funds it. The title company insures it and runs the closing. None of them represents you once the contract is signed. The buyer's attorney does.

Khatib Law LLC represents buyers of single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes and two- to four-unit buildings throughout Cook County, Will County and DuPage County from its Palos Heights office. Hani H. Khatib, Attorney at Law · CPA · LL.M. (Taxation), handles the contract review and the closing. Because attorney review runs only five business days from the Date of Acceptance, contact the office the day your offer is accepted.

Paragraph 13 of the Multi-Board contract gives each side's attorney five business days after the Date of Acceptance to propose changes to anything except the purchase price. For a buyer, the letter is where the contract gets fixed. Typical buyer proposals in the southwest suburbs:

• a tax proration above 100 percent, because Cook County taxes are billed in arrears and the next bill will be higher;
• a condominium document contingency, so the deal can be cancelled if the 22.1 documents reveal a special assessment or litigation;
• a well and septic test in unincorporated areas;
• a clarified list of what stays (the washer, the garage refrigerator, the shed); and
• a closing date that matches your lease.

Our contract review page explains the clock, the modification letter and what happens when the two sides cannot agree.

Paragraph 8(a) of the Multi-Board contract makes the purchase contingent on financing until the Financing Contingency Date: 45 days after acceptance or five business days before closing, whichever is earlier. By that date you must deliver written evidence from your lender that the loan is approved subject only to closing conditions, title, survey and matters within your control. If your application is rejected in writing and you serve notice by that date, the contract is null and void and the earnest money comes back. If you have neither a rejection nor an approval, both sides have options, including an extension or termination, and missing the date can cost you the contingency. We calendar the date the day the contract arrives and follow up with the loan officer before it.

For a resale condominium, section 22.1 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act (765 ILCS 605/22.1) requires the seller to obtain from the board, on demand, the declaration, budget, reserves, pending litigation and insurance, among other items. The board has ten business days from a written request to furnish them and may charge the seller a capped fee.

We read those documents for the things that change the value of the unit: a reserve study that shows underfunding, a special assessment already approved, a rental cap, a pending lawsuit over the roof, and the insurance deductible you will be responsible for. If the contract has a condominium document contingency, you can cancel on what you find; if it does not, attorney review is the moment to add one.

Under the federal TRID rule your lender must make sure you receive the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before consummation (12 CFR 1026.19(f)). If the APR becomes inaccurate, the loan product changes or a prepayment penalty is added, a corrected disclosure restarts the three days. We compare the Closing Disclosure to the contract, the Loan Estimate and the seller's figures, and we ask the lender to fix errors before the day of closing rather than at the table.

On closing day you walk through the property to confirm its condition and that agreed repairs were made, then sign at the title company. Wire your cash to close only to instructions confirmed by telephone with the title company; a changed set of wiring instructions sent by email is the sign of wire fraud.

1. Your basis starts on the settlement statement

   The purchase price plus certain closing costs is the basis you will use to compute gain when you sell, and for a two-flat it is the starting point for depreciation on the rental unit. We identify the capitalizable costs at closing and give you a basis memo to keep with the deed.

2. Prorations and exemptions are tax decisions

   The proration percentage, the homeowner exemption application and the timing of the first bill in your name are dollar figures, and they are negotiated during attorney review.

3. Gifts from parents

   Down-payment gifts and co-signed purchases raise gift-tax reporting questions and change who gets the basis. One adviser answers the legal and the tax question in the same privileged conversation; see how an attorney who is also a CPA works.