Looking for a cheap real estate lawyer.

[Thaco]

Hey, i just bought a condo (conditionally) and i need a cheap lawyer, i thought maybe some people in here who just bought can suggest a good cheap lawyer.


I've phoned a few and the cheapest i could find was $700-$800 rough estimate (all in, that's $450+gst+dispersements)... anyone here pay less than that? (since they all basically do the same thing)

[D. Dub]

good and cheap are usually not synonymous

[Thaco]

Originally posted by D. Dub
good and cheap are usually not synonymous

I don't care if they're good, they all do the same thing, there's no way they can't be good.

[HRD2PLZ]

Some of my clients have used Rick Lehan @ Your Lawyer. Phone 261-4010. Apparently he is cheap ($500 - $600 range) all included and are efficient. I, personally, have never used them though.

[benyl]

There are guys out there that will do it for $500. But usually only for existing clients. Just let your fingers do the walking.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by benyl
There are guys out there that will do it for $500. But usually only for existing clients. Just let your fingers do the walking.

Thanks, i did check out the phone book, and i found a couple who do it for $450 + GSt + Dispersements most wanted $650+gst and disp.

If anybody searches for this in the future, the guys i'm using are Nukitiuk & Blain, They seem good, their site is www.NBRinjury.com looks like they're primarily injury lawyers, but their site also has their picture, they look alright.

[Fish n Chips]

Originally posted by Thaco


I don't care if they're good, they all do the same thing, there's no way they can't be good.

Personally, I will not save on lawyer's fee and will use one that's highly recommended in the field. Some lawyers excel in dealing with condos and land. In general, you want one that is recommended for actually spending time reading relevant docs (eg. condo docs (in case of buying a condo unit), deed, mortgage doc, and community architectural control bylaws (in case of buying a house whose exterior appears to have been updated)... etc), punctuality in executing the files, and a good communicator (speaking to the point and explain the caution items in the doc to you, by himself/herself (not by a legal assistant), before you sign).

From my experience, there are many things that can go wrong which eventually cost bigger than the initial saving from using a lower priced lawyer picked from the Yellow Page. Give you an apparent but less costly example, if your purchase of the property is not closed on time because of your lawyer, you will be paying the per diem interest to the vendor. If the borrowed fund of purchasing your condo is $250k, and the penalty interest of being late you need to pay is 8% (Prime + 2%), then the cost of being late per day to you is $54.79. That quickly eats into your initial saving of $200 - $400 range.

Examples of more costly mistakes? How about neglecting to discover from the condo doc that there will be a $30k cash call from the condo manager to the owners of condo units (in the case of buying a condo unit inside a nice looking building which has gone through a condo conversion but still have outstanding works).

Lawyers who charge low usually make their ends meet by doing business in very high volume. As their profitable is low, they can't afford sufficient resources to help them. Their energy level and morale is low on a daily basis. Because of constant rush between overdue files, they will skip reviewing this or that in their clients files. Some time, they may even be frustrated and then transfer this negative energy to their clients.

In short, bad lawyers are worst than bad hair dressers. The latter only make you feel regretful until the next haircut.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by Thaco


I don't care if they're good, they all do the same thing, there's no way they can't be good.

hahaha these words may end up biting you in the ass HARD if you truly believe that all lawyers are the same. Be careful who you choose, as a good lawyer can save you 100 times what he charges you if shit hits the fan during the transfer.

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by HRD2PLZ
Some of my clients have used Rick Lehan @ Your Lawyer. Phone 261-4010. Apparently he is cheap ($500 - $600 range) all included and are efficient. I, personally, have never used them though.

I used this guy, cheap and quick.

A little on the shady side though, he met us at a bar on a Saturday evening to sign the papers.

[HRD2PLZ]

Originally posted by QuasarCav



I used this guy, cheap and quick.

A little on the shady side though, he met us at a bar on a Saturday evening to sign the papers.

Are you serious? He met you in a bar? Wow... that is terrible... I have heard of lawyers going out to meet clients to sign off on the documents, but never heard of them meeting in a bar

[Thaco]

Originally posted by Fish n Chips


Personally, I will not save on lawyer's fee and will use one that's highly recommended in the field. Some lawyers excel in dealing with condos and land. In general, you want one that is recommended for actually spending time reading relevant docs (eg. condo docs (in case of buying a condo unit), deed, mortgage doc, and community architectural control bylaws (in case of buying a house whose exterior appears to have been updated)... etc), punctuality in executing the files, and a good communicator (speaking to the point and explain the caution items in the doc to you, by himself/herself (not by a legal assistant), before you sign).

From my experience, there are many things that can go wrong which eventually cost bigger than the initial saving from using a lower priced lawyer picked from the Yellow Page. Give you an apparent but less costly example, if your purchase of the property is not closed on time because of your lawyer, you will be paying the per diem interest to the vendor. If the borrowed fund of purchasing your condo is $250k, and the penalty interest of being late you need to pay is 8% (Prime + 2%), then the cost of being late per day to you is $54.79. That quickly eats into your initial saving of $200 - $400 range.

Examples of more costly mistakes? How about neglecting to discover from the condo doc that there will be a $30k cash call from the condo manager to the owners of condo units (in the case of buying a condo unit inside a nice looking building which has gone through a condo conversion but still have outstanding works).

Lawyers who charge low usually make their ends meet by doing business in very high volume. As their profitable is low, they can't afford sufficient resources to help them. Their energy level and morale is low on a daily basis. Because of constant rush between overdue files, they will skip reviewing this or that in their clients files. Some time, they may even be frustrated and then transfer this negative energy to their clients.

In short, bad lawyers are worst than bad hair dressers. The latter only make you feel regretful until the next haircut.

yeah, i understand your points, but honestly, you can get screwed reguardless of how much you pay, just because you pay more doesn't mean you're any less likely to have problems.

[The_1]

Originally posted by Thaco


I don't care if they're good, they all do the same thing, there's no way they can't be good.

when i sold my house the other lawyer released the funds to me before the buyer even had the keys
thats
and hes a very well know lawyer in the asian community

most places you call will tell you about 400-600 but then when your buying expect to pay alot more then that after everything. even all the photo copying... and your going to always pay more first and then after everything they will send you back a cheque of around 200

try Vaughan K Watts at the David Gottlieb Law office
I used him the last few times and he always did great work
275-4881

[calgarycoffee]

He is good!!!! I used him on the sale of my last place, and was pleased with the service - his office is out of the downtown core - low overhead costs. He also has legal assistants do the majority of work, easier to get in touch with on the phone, and would not release funds, till all was complete!!!! and I have no problem with that, cause he is probably a few hundred dollars cheaper!! - note - this is just my opinion.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by QuasarCav



I used this guy, cheap and quick.

A little on the shady side though, he met us at a bar on a Saturday evening to sign the papers.

Hahahah, yeah that's Rick, the dirty old bastard.

My wife used to work for him and was a good friend of his step daughter.

He IS the cheapest in town (part of my wife's job was to call other offices pretending to sell/buy a place to get their price so they could beat it) , and more than 30% of real estate deals in Southern Alberta go through him. He works 22 hours a day, that's why he meets people in the "Stardust" to sign papers etc, though with no more smoking in bars, I don't know where he'll go now.

I recommend him.

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Hahahah, yeah that's Rick, the dirty old bastard.

My wife used to work for him and was a good friend of his step daughter.

He IS the cheapest in town (part of my wife's job was to call other offices pretending to sell/buy a place to get their price so they could beat it) , and more than 30% of real estate deals in Southern Alberta go through him. He works 22 hours a day, that's why he meets people in the "Stardust" to sign papers etc, though with no more smoking in bars, I don't know where he'll go now.

I recommend him.

Yup, he was good at what he does and most importantly cheap. It was nice that he could work around our schedule while I was working in Edmonton. We sat down with him and he explained everything while smoking no less then eight cigarettes.