Real-estate deals may involve sticky ethical relationships

Buying real estate is an increasingly complicated process. As the degree of difficulty reaches Olympic levels, more business relationships attach to every deal, which leads to more opportunities for the appearance of the less appealing aspects of normal human behavior.

Here are a few to watch for.

Lawyers.  I advise out-of-town property buyers to find a local real-estate lawyer as their first portal into a new community. Such a buyer needs an experienced lawyer’s knowledge and local expertise.

Problems can arise when a buyer’s lawyer has history or a business relationship with local lenders, brokers, appraisers, insurance companies, officials and, perhaps, the seller. The buyer needs advice that is not complicated by his lawyer’s past or present. The buyer, for example, may not be best served by a lawyer who recommends that his new client borrow from a local bank…on whose board he sits and whose stock he owns. Read more