Buying land or property is not just about making the payment and moving in. A ton of legal complications await you when you decide to purchase a piece of real estate. No matter how much you read online about property-related laws and transactions, hiring a legal professional is always better. With expert legal opinions on the property in question, you can rest assured that you have not committed anything illegal nor have you been duped in any way.
You may be putting your life savings into investing in a property so do not take the risk of not having a legal advisor at your disposal. Check out the 5 reasons to get yourself a legal opinion on land and/or property.
5 Reasons to Obtain Legal Opinion on Property and/or Land
It’s just not a few obvious papers that you need to acquire while buying real estate. It is a tiring process of cross-checking, verifying, editing, and calculating several factors like the marketability of the property, agreement documentation, income tax implications, and the required stamp duty. Read on to know why these matters should be left with a legal advisor.
1. Benefits The Buyer’s Interest
Legal opinions are important to safeguard the buyer’s interest in all kinds of real estate transactions. It comes with a price but it is worth the expense because it favors the buyer in question. Legal opinions can tell if a buyer is buying a worthy property or land. You need to have a competent attorney at your disposal to provide you with the best legal opinions on paperwork. You will be saved from the worries of all legal matters because the lawyers will explain in layman’s terms if the property in question is worth your investment or not.
2. Proper Paperwork in Property Transactions
Ensuring proper documentation of all the property-related paperwork is another benefit of obtaining legal opinion on land and/or property. A competent authority will make sure all the necessary documents related to the property or land are provided to you and that you, as a buyer, have documents for each and every one of them. Typically, these documents include sale deeds, mother deeds, and the like. Without legal opinions from a licensed lawyer, you might not understand the legal aspects of a property transaction.
3. Transparency in Property Transactions
As we mentioned earlier, legal opinions on property make sure that the dealing is fool-proof and that no one is getting cheated by fraudulent or missing property-related documents. Cross-checking the papers is important but only a lawyer can give you a thumbs up. Legal opinions on such cases not only make the dealing transparent to the buyer but also to the seller. It also helps uncover any suppressed facts about the property (whether it be any untoward incidents in the property or its ownership titles).
4. Documents All Approvals
Most property or land buyers are unaware of the required civic approvals they need to execute while dealing with property agreements. Legal opinions help the buyers deal with such approvals and provide you with a clean chit. It could include documents like
- Environment clearance
- Structural safety certificate
- NOC
- Floor plan approvals
- Building plan approvals, etc.
5. Legal Assistance in Joint Properties
A joint property has two or more owners which means a buyer needs to obtain NOC from all of them. Now that’s a complicated process for a man unversed in property laws. Get in touch with an attorney well-versed in legal opinions on properties to help you get through with it. There are other agreements apart from NOC that your lawyer will acquire on your behalf.
The Bottom Line: Legal Opinion on Land or Property Protects The Dealers From Fraud
Legal opinion on land and/or property ensures that the real estate dealing is legal under current laws. It also saves the buyer the trouble of verifying all the agreements and property-related documents themselves. Without a legal advisor, buyers may be subjected to fraudulent transactions and you don’t want all your life savings to go that way. Hire an attorney expert in property-related regulations to help yourself as well as the seller have an error-free deal.
FAQs : Legal Opinion for Property
1. Who can give a legal opinion?
Attorneys are authorized to give you legal opinions on properties or land-related matters with a written document. They present the case with legal facts and applicable regulations according to the states’ laws or special legislation. There is a difference between legal advice and legal opinion.
2. What is the difference between legal advice and legal opinion?
The key difference between a legal opinion and legal advice is that the former is an analysis based on present and past facts made by an attorney. While the latter is a form of guidance from an attorney as to what future actions a client should take on a particular issue.
3. What is a legal opinion letter in real estate?
A legal opinion letter is issued by a legal counsel (an attorney) to facilitate the lender’s diligence in real estate transactions. This letter can be used as a credit analysis to decide whether the lender should lend to the borrower or not.
4. Can a non-lawyer give legal advice?
Generally, non-lawyers or unlicensed attorneys may only recite legal information. They cannot form legal opinions or advice or represent someone in a court other than themselves.
5. Is a legal opinion required for a home loan?
Legal opinions are valuable when you decide to take a home loan. It will help the borrower understand property laws, their legal compliance, implications under income tax regulations, and the like.