While there is no shortage of real estate lawyers out there, but sometimes mortgage note investing requires lawyers with a certain skill set and area of specialization. In my last blog I discussed the different types of private lenders, of which there were a few. This time, I’ll tackle some of the different lawyers needed when working with different types of notes.
Well, notes are as varied as the lawyers who will represent you should be. Let me just start with a few of the scenarios that you may encounter. You have performing, non-performing, first position, second position, seller financed, lease options, REO’s, foreclosures, etc. There are also commercial notes in these same categories, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll stick to residential.
Last year, I purchased a note that was a lease option, and the tenant/borrowers were already evicted from the property. This is one of the instances in which you actually own the physical property and the note. Think of a lease option like you leased a car. You make the monthly agreed upon payments, and at the end of the lease you have the option to buy the car or turn it back in to the dealer. Lease options on real estate is similar.
So now that the home is vacant, I decided to sell it to a flipper in the area. Since it is out my state, I got my realtor to get me a lawyer in the area to represent me in the sale of the home. Big mistake. While the lawyer was a real estate lawyer, he unfortunately did not have any experience in land or title transactions! That was my fault for not investigating further. Another lesson learned on my part.
I lost over three months of going back and forth with this lawyer who had no idea how to cure a title issue.
Luckily, my buyer was still willing to wait it out. In the meantime, I had to reach out to other investors and people in my network to get me a lawyer who is skilled in title curative issues.
If you buy a note that needs to go into foreclosure, seek out the best foreclosure lawyer. If you seller finance, seek out the best lawyer to draw up the agreement for that. It seems so simple, yet you would be surprised at how many lawyers are not versed in a particular area of expertise.
As always, please continue to stay safe out there!
For more information on notes or if you have notes to sell, reach out to Zee at Awanna Holdings, LLC (571)659-5005. ©Awanna Holdings, LLC (Feb 2021-2)
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Email – zee@awannarandh.com