Truths in the Life of a Real Estate

This kind of paralegal works with fixed forms among the many moving parts of the world of real estate law. This world can encompass foreclosures, closings, quiet title actions, and the realm of title companies. (By the way, title companies are hiring more and more paralegals because of their excellent awareness of the basic issues involved. Pay is increasing in some areas of the country and paralegals are being promoted up into management at title companies.)
 

The closing is the moment of tension

The main tension-producing moment in this practice area is the closing. It is a moment in time at which everyone concerned must be in attendance, everyone in attendance must be of complete agreement, and everyone in attendance must have documents that agree with everyone else's. It is the climax of agreement coming from parties who may have been at odds with each other for days (or weeks or months).

The real estate paralegal has to have an eye for detail and an ability to bring comprehension, consistency, and accuracy to literally hundreds of documents. This process can be both dreaded and addictive. Understand that a real estate study class can in no way imitate what the closing is. One woman who owns a successful agency marketing temporary paralegals to a large metropolitan area once declared, "Never say you'll never go into a certain practice area. Keep your options open. I swore I would never go into Real Estate based upon my classroom experience. Five years later, I had five years of experience in Real Estate. I became addicted to that practice area."

Work varies according to whether you are representing a buyer or a seller

Your firm may represent the buyer or the seller in a closing, and might also represent the borrower/lender. The documents, checklists, and preclosing steps differ depending on whom you are helping. The process is a constant interrelating of all the parties involved. Contracts must be drafted, as well as addendums and counterproposals, and all the while each must coordinate with the other to be sure there is agreement. Title work will have to be done while you are ordering special coverages and a tax certificate. There will be a surveyor, who may have changes and corrections on his work. Loan pay-off documents must be prepared, assumable loans and new loans will all have to have the proper documentation, and leases must be reviewed and checked in case they might affect the closing. And all the while, you must be taking care that any documents that are not viable do not get mixed up with the new corrected versions. It always falls to the paralegal to double- and triple-check that all the documents are current and correct.

Work toward the closing must be done with one eye toward complete accuracy and the other on the clock. Inaccuracy can kill a closing, but mostly it can cost time, which is crucial at closings. Check the Deeds and Bill of Sale and all the pertinent loan documents. Remember you will be obtaining the canceled notes, releases, and new title policies. And don't forget those originals. With just a brief snapshot of what goes on at a closing, you can see the "adrenaline rush" that participants enjoy as they mount their efforts and watch something come to a resolved conclusion.

If you are working with a bank as borrower, you will be involved with corporate law too. There will be U.C.C. searches, certificates of good standing for corporations or certificates of registration for limited partnerships. There will be lien waivers and certificates of completion if a construction project is involved. There will be zoning questions and ordinances to be followed. In these situations paralegals are relied upon for the initial acquisition and verification of many of these documents. They must be thorough and have great amounts of what many applicants call "follow through."

Real estate paralegals must know the step-by-step procedure for completing successful foreclosures and judicial foreclosures and be prepared to bring their special expertise to many practice areas that they might not anticipate. If one files for bankruptcy, real estate is almost always affected. Corporate law is often involved in real estate transactions, and since the land is what we are talking about here, probate law looms large in real estate practice, as old generations transfer power and wealth to new generations. Litigation often involves real estate because it is one of the world's chief forms of wealth.