Ann Arbor Home Buying

A couple years ago we had an interesting transaction in the office.

The buyer was from out of state and she was a little confused about the purchasing process and instead of listening to us she was taking the advice of her accountant back in New Jersey. Unfortunately real estate is a local business, and her New Jersey friend was giving her really dumb advice.

To make matters worse, when she decided on the home she wanted to purchase here in Ann Arbor, she used an attorney that was getting senile.

So here is the general story on the attorney:

1. He held up having the buyer sign a negotiated agreement for 4 days because he wanted the buyer's middle initial added and he wanted condominium spelled out where it was abbreviated "condo".

2. He wanted me to add a radon test contingency to the contract even though he was told it was a 2nd story unit. 

3. He told the buyer and me that I should draw a floor plan of the condo for the inspector so he would know where the rooms were. (This was a 1,200 sq. ft., 2 bedroom condo. I would hope that an inspector could find the rooms.)

4. He had the buyer send a $10,000 earnest money deposit to the listing office, telling the buyer to make the check out to the listing office, even though the contract had our office holding the funds.

5. He did a couple of other things that  would have really embarrassed the buyer if she had known about them, and the listing agent thought he was quite creepy.

In the end the buyer was able to close and move into her condo so things turned out OK. 

I shutter to think what kind of legal fees the poor buyer paid, and both the listing agent and I thought about filling a complaint with the local bar association, but since the attorney wasn't actually working for either of us, we didn't have standing to file a complaint.

The learning point here is: Use a local real estate attorney when you buy your home!