I am a city person. I was born and raised in Kolkata and I have lived in a metropolitan or cosmopolitan city ever since.

Then I moved to a small village in Goa called Mandrem.

Goa is beautiful! With old portuguese houses and churches spread across the state, it is picturesque. But Mandrem was a revelation.

I can never get tired of the view. With small hills surrounding the area and luscious green fields, it is a quiet village with friendly faces. The view from my present co-working space was what sold me to the idea.

When you come from Panjim, the road opens up in a clearing, with green fields on both sides. You can see the hills surrounding the area and clear blue sky lined with white clouds.

It is one of the most serene experiences to simply watch the sunset from the co-working space. I can sit and soak in the view for hours at a stretch.

Then I went back home. It was a complete 180 degree from Mandrem.

The sheer noise, lights, traffic, countless people moving around urgently seemed weird to me. But I guess that is how city life is.

When I came back to Panjim after a 3 day vacation at home, I started noticing the various constructions on the way to Mandrem. I also heard that a new airport is being constructed considerably nearer to the village. The immediate concern in my mind was that the natural beauty of the village would be threatened. With the airport and other construction development on the way, tourism will be on the rise and so will be the rate of real estate in these areas.

As a lawyer my mind immediately went to what a real estate lawyer can do in such situations. Professional hazard I guess.

The people who are in such areas with real estate will need real estate lawyers at some point or the other. Then the question arises – what do the owners of real estates and buyers need to know about real estate lawyers.

Who do they go to for the negotiation, contract drafting, title check, etc? Will they have to run around from one government office to other? Where and how will they get the documents registered?

All these questions can be solved by simply hiring a real estate lawyer. Here are four things you must know about real estate lawyers:

# Hire an attorney before the deal!

What is the best time to hire a lawyer? In the end, when paperwork needs to be done? No.

The best time to hire a real estate lawyer is before getting into the deal. You need a lawyer, every step of the way to advise you about the possible pitfalls, to do the negotiations, get the best deal for their client.

The problem with going to a lawyer after the deal is closed is that they cannot help you with many solutions after the deal is closed. In the preliminary stages they can help you avoid the dispute by doing the necessary background checks, looking into the ownership titles, paperwork, etc.

Imagine if you are entering into a deal for buying a house. You go through the agents and do not involve the lawyers until after registration of the sale deed. Now after a while you get to know that part of the house was built on a disputed property. This is when you go to the real estate lawyer. But, if you’d gone to the lawyer before then he could have done the necessary checks and figured this out before and helped avoid the dispute altogether.

Prevention is better than cure, so you need to go to the lawyers before the damage is done.

# Get the real estate lawyer

Being a lawyer, there is a major misconception amongst people that a lawyer will resolve any dispute. But, like doctors, lawyers have specialised fields too. Just because your high school friend has a flourishing criminal practice, does not mean he can help you with real estate disputes. You should not go to a criminal lawyer for advice on real estate.

A real estate lawyer has to develop his knowledge base, skill sets and network based on the industry. It is best advised to go to one in case of a real estate dispute or query as they have the specialised knowledge of the domain. One may learn the specialised knowledge from doing a real estate law course.

Click here to know more about real estate law course!

For instance, a corporate lawyer can draft a variety of contracts and agreements pertaining to mergers, acquisition, non-disclosure, licensing, etc. But when it comes to drafting a sale deed, development agreement or even a leave and license agreement, the better bet is on a real estate lawyer. They have the necessary skill set to do the job better.

# Seek advice from real estate lawyers, not agents!

Free advice is difficult to refuse. But it can be quite costly too.

Basically, people avoid going to the lawyers because they think that they charge too much for giving the advice. A doctor also advises the patient. But the checkup, medications, etc. are tangible exchanges between the patient and the doctor. That makes it seem like a fair exchange.

Whereas, the lawyers seems to be simply talking to the client, while advising. The lack of a tangible exchange makes it seem like an unfair exchange. This makes some people wary of lawyers in general. Therefore, they seek advice from other less expensive options and fall in trouble more often than not.

When entering into real estate transactions, you may need a real estate agent’s assistance. But that assistance should be limited to their area of expertise. You should not equate a qualified lawyers advice over an agent or any other person. It is not like that others do not know much about the dealings. But an expert opinion from a qualified person is necessary when entering into a real estate dealing. It helps avoid the expensive disputes.

# Real estate lawyers do way more than you know!

When a client receives the final documents and pays the fees, they go home knowing that the job is done. But what happens behind the scenes? How do these lawyers do the work behind the scenes in order to ensure the client’s peace of mind?

Real estate investments are usually one of the biggest financial decisions people make.

With a good real estate lawyer, clients are able to rest assure there are no problems with the title and that the terms of the purchase agreement are fair to them. Property law can be rather archaic and often still requires delving into old records that haven’t yet been digitized, so it isn’t exactly easy work either. But these lawyers provide these services with a lot of hard work.

The real estate lawyers need to be able to provide end to end service to a potential client. A client may come to them for a simple title search certificate or a leave and license agreement. Or a developer may come for understanding his contractual obligations to the client or whether the delay can be justified as unforeseen circumstance. These lawyers provide the necessary services so as the client does not have to be concerned with the nitty-gritty of the dealings. They negotiate for them the best possible deal.

So, now that you know about the real estate lawyers, hope you will cut them some slack in future when the turnaround time takes slightly longer than you’d like. They are doing the best in your interests, after all.