Had a horrible experience with our lawyer who charged $5K for services involved in buying a place and then another $5K to sell a place.

He wasn't even very good and charge us $10K for it all.

normal manhattan these days seems to be between 2k and 3k. i was right in the middle. 5k for each transaction is way out of line unless you had something really strange involvd in the process.

Im confused, what made you use him for the sale when he/she charged you so much for the purchase?
Was this a flip?

{And since the seller's attorney is the one that usually draws up the contracts, he gave you a discount for the sale based on what he charged you for the purchase ;) }

Okay, I know I am opening myself to flames because I come from an even more reviled profession, but in my experience, the majority of real estate attorneys are lousy -- they push through too much volume to do a careful and thorough job. Is that what happened here?

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Well considering lawyers fall into a category probably worse then brokers in a lot of cases, it is hard for them to make any money without the volume. If you are specializing in real estate closings you really need to do a lot to support yourself and staff. What i find is it is hard to stay on top of it all leading to questionable service. But for the most part i think they have been backed into a corner with regard to fees and people feel that the cost should be minimal.

The problem really does come down to if you have a good attorney, it does happen, they may actually feel they need to live up to their side and actually spend time reviewing. If they do this, even an easy sales contract takes time.

That being said my attorney while not always on top of things needed to spend a decent amount of time on this because of sponsors attorney and some back and forth, that i feel he more then earned his fee and at the end i would have owed if it was not a flat fee.

We made mistakes. First to admit. We went with the broker's reco. The lawyer said he would do right by us and we didn't get a quote or flat fee. So then came the charge of $5K when we purchased our new place. We were stunned but were also in the process of selling the old place and stayed with him for convenience sake. He told us it wouldn't be more than $3K for the sale but it was $5K again. Told us that the buy should have been $7K so he applied $2K to the sale. He would never give a quote and just a bill each time.

A bill that comes in 66% over estimate would hack me off too. You might want to send a note to the broker (and cc: his or her manager) and point out that you're displeased.

It won't get you much, if anything, back (maybe some theater tickets or a nice meal out) but it will drop the attorney down their recommended list.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

@Ali I did send a note to the broker. She didn't seem to care. What does a broker usually give a client when they close on a sale?

eh complain to the bar association, what can you do...

gator, it varies by transaction -- if the client is truly happy, sometimes they will give presents -- the new sofa in my living room was a client gift.

But in general, the broker should give the client something that sincerely says thanks for being in my life and putting food on the table. I have done Broadway tix and a new crib on the high end and restaurant gift cards and homemade CDs on the low end.

ali