Are you considering buying a home or some other real estate? Have you been thinking about hiring a lawyer to help you with this process? If you're like most people, you're probably wondering what you would even need a lawyer for in the first place. You find a home you're interested in, you say you're going to buy it, and that's the end of it. Right? Not necessarily. There are a number of reasons why you might want to have a lawyer on your side. Here are some of the most important of these reasons.

Clarifying terms: Many people sign things without fully understanding what they're signing. This doesn't make it right, but it should at least make you wary. One thing that may happen is if you sign a purchase agreement that puts you on the hook for a bunch of various fees even if the seller decides not to sell you the house. With the help of real estate legal services like Barrett Twomey Broom Hughes & Hoke LLP, you'll be able to find out exactly who will be paying for what, whether the purchase agreement is followed through on, or whether one of you pulls out of the agreement. 

Hidden issues: No matter how careful you are, there are few, if any, homes that have absolutely nothing wrong with them. But some issues are worse than others. For instance, a seller might do something like forge a termite inspection certificate that claims that the house is clean when it actually hasn't seen an inspection or a termite extermination visit in years. If you then discover after you've bought it that the house actually is infested with termites and has been for some time, you may have very little recourse unless you have used real estate legal services to ensure that you have the ability to sue the seller for the cost of repairs.

Title concerns: It's not always clear exactly who owns a piece of property. You might assume that whoever has put the property up for sale has the legal right to sell it, but this isn't always the case. As part of the purchase process, most lenders will require a third party to do a title search on the property that is being bought and sold in order to determine exactly who owns it. But if you are able to pay cash on an inexpensive piece of property, this type of research may not be a requirement in your state. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to hire one of your local real estate legal services to determine who owns the property that you're buying and if it can even be sold at all.