Ensuring Residential And Commercial Real Estate Transactions Go Smoothly

If you are buying or selling a commercial property, or buying or selling a home, you want an experienced lawyer to protect your interests. The sale or purchase of a home is the single largest investment that most people make, and the sale or purchase of a commercial property is a critical point in an established or growing business. To make certain that you get the outcome you need and expect, you want an attorney who understands the intricate details of real estate transactions, including all of the risks involved and resources needed.

At The Payne Law Office, Chartered, we have worked extensively with buyers and sellers of both residential and commercial property. We know that real estate transactions involve both substantial investment and risk, and that the details of a residential or commercial real estate transaction can be complex and confusing. When you hire us, we will devote our undivided attention to every detail of your transaction. We will promptly respond to your calls or emails, so that you always have timely answers to your questions. Whether you are buying or selling, or entering into litigation involving real estate, we can provide the representation you need and deserve.

Contact our office online or call us at 773-897-5803 or toll free at 888-827-3077 to set up an appointment.

Our Schaumburg Real Estate Practice

Our attorneys specialize in real estate transactions and real estate litigation in the Schaumburg and Schaumburgland areas, and offer representation in the following areas:

• Real estate closings, both residential and commercial, including all aspects of transactional representation
• For sale by owner (FSBO) transactions
• Breach of contract
• Drafting and reviewing of real estate contracts, both residential and commercial
• Due diligence
• Failure to disclose defects
• Quiet title actions (a lawsuit to remove a lien from your property)
• Specific performance (forced closings)
• Landlord-tenant issues
• Mechanic’s liens
• Condominium conversions
• Wills and trusts

For purchasers of residential and commercial real estate, we meticulously review your contract, make appropriate modifications to your contract that will be most beneficial to you, and otherwise focus our efforts on contractual matters dealing with the sale of your existing real property (if applicable), financing, due diligence, and home or other inspection aspects of the transaction. Our goal with all buyers is to protect your rights and interests as well as all unsatisfied contract contingencies, including:

• Mortgage contingencies. This contingency makes the sale dependent on your ability to obtain a mortgage. If you are unable to gain approval for a mortgage, you have no contractual obligation to purchase the property.
• Due diligence contingencies. This contingency allows buyer of commercial real estate to evaluate the property and/or the business they are purchasing, including financial information, operating information, surveys, soil or boring tests, environmental evaluations, or zoning or other municipal issues.
• Home or other property inspection contingencies. This contingency makes the sale dependent on your satisfaction with the condition of the home. If your inspection reveals material defects that are unacceptable to you and that the seller will not remedy, you do not have to complete the closing or purchase the property.
• Home sale contingencies, if applicable. Under this contingency, your obligation to purchase the new property is dependent upon your ability to sell your existing home. If you cannot sell your existing home, you do not have to close on the new house.

We can also help you work with the seller to modify contingencies without waiving them. Waiver (including involuntary waiver) of a contingency can lead to many legal problems, including breach of contract, loss of earnest money or liability under the buy-sell agreement.

For sellers of Illinois residential property, our primary goal is to ensure that you comply with contractual obligations to convey clear title and fulfill all of your existing obligations with respect to the property you are selling. We will also ensure that you have made all appropriate disclosures to the buyer, including information about the home you are selling, lead-based paint, radon and mold. We will also prepare or help you prepare for you closing, including requirements for transfer stamps, plats of survey (where necessary), obtain and deliver condominium disclosures and documents for sellers of condominiums, municipal inspection, utility and zoning requirements for transfer of your home. We will work to minimize closing costs, so that you maximize the proceeds of the sale while limiting any potential liability to your buyer.

We also represent sellers and buyers in actions for breach of contract or specific performance, where a buyer or seller has breached a purchase contract by refusing to go forward. In these instances, we strive to have the court compel the buyer or seller to fulfill all obligations under the purchase agreement or pay you money damages that make you whole.

In most situations, a real estate agent will complete a form contract. You need to make sure an experienced real estate attorney reviews that contract (or drafts it initially) and makes appropriate modifications to change the terms of the agreement so that it will benefit you most and not leave you in a position you will regret at the closing table.

There is normally a limited time to do this, and it is usually five business days from the date the seller signs the contract. A buyer normally has the same time period to negotiate any inspection issues with the seller. We can help both buyers and sellers with all of these things, including approving or disapproving of the contract as drafted, modifying the contract appropriately, negotiating and resolving home inspection issues, and keeping and protecting any unsatisfied contractual contingencies, including those mentioned above for buyers, i.e., mortgage, due diligence (commercial), home or other property inspections, and home sale contingencies.

Estate planning is also closely interrelated with real estate and our real estate practice. Since your home is usually your single largest asset, you want to make sure you have planned appropriately so that your real estate goes to those who you intend to get it. We can draft a will or a trust for you to properly preserve and effectuate all of your wants and desires regarding your real estate investments. For more information on estate planning, and wills and trusts, contact us.

Contact Us

Contact us online or call us at 773-897-5803 or toll free at 888-827-3077. Our office is conveniently located on the near Northwest side of Schaumburg, with easy access to the Daley Center, the Skokie courthouse, the Rolling Meadows courthouse and the Maywood courthouse. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

Se habla español