SURVEY INDICATES N. C. LAWYERS WANT INCREASED ROLE IN RESIDENTIAL SALES TRANSACTIONS

By Blackwell M. Brogden, Jr.
    Deputy Legal Counsel

Research by three law students at Campbell University has produced some interesting comments from attorneys who practice in the real estate field. Kristi E. Cave, Sarah S. Stevens and Phillip Wilson surveyed the attorneys by means of a questionnaire published in the Campbell Law Observer. With their permission, we have reprinted below some of the questions and answers from their survey which the Commission felt would be of interest to real estate licensees.

The respondees included attorneys from firms who had within the past year closed as few as 12 and as many as 1200 residential real estate transactions. Although only 52 attorneys (from 35 of the more populated counties) responded to the questionnaire, nevertheless this group was considered to be representative of practitioners as a whole; however, no determination of statistical significance has been made.

It should be noted that since some persons did not answer every question and others gave multiple answers to the same question, the responses (shown in bold type) represent the percentage of total responses given for that question.

Responses

1. What percent of your work is residential real estate closings?

33%    25%    2%    1%
27%    10%    20%    Other
18%     50%

2. For residential real estate closings, how do people usually find your firm?

27%    Referral by real estate agent.
24%    Direct contact by the pro-
            spective client.
24%    Referral by previous clients.
22%    Referral by financial insti-
            tution.
1%    Referral by seller of property.
1%    Builder referral.

3. In a typical residential real estate transaction, who do you represent?

49% - 'Buyer
29.7.    Lender
14%    Seller
7%    'Realty Company
1%     Other

4. What percent of your time are you involved in a residential transaction where both seller and buyer are represented by separate attorneys?

29%    1%    4%    25%
27%    5%    2%    0%
27%    10%    10%     Other

5. What is your usual fee for a residential real estate closing?

46%    1% of sales price
36%    Flat fee
18%    Hourly

6.    Do clients come to you before the signing of the purchase agreement?

0%    Always    57%     Rarely
2%    Usually    8%     Never
33%     Sometimes

7.    Do you discuss the purchase agreement with the client for clarificatien (i.e., personal property that is to be included in transaction, ambiguous clauses, etc.)?

28%    Always    28% Sometimes
40%    Usually     4% Rarely

8.    When a client comes to you for a title search, do you examine the purchase agreement?

55%    Always    15% Sometimes
26%    Usually     4% Rarely

9. What title defects do you disclose to your client upon completion of your title search? 84% All 14% All, excluding minor

2%    Only major

10. When the lender does not require a policy of title insurance, do you recommend an owner's policy of title insurance to the buyer?

3%    Always    13%     Rarely
18%    Usually    3%    Never
63%     Sometimes

11. When you disclose information to your client regarding the real estate transaction, what is the disclosure  based on?

41%    Client's abilityto understand.
11%    Time available to spend with client.
6%    Cost of real estate involved.
4%    Client's educational level.
39%    Other.

12.    Do you think real estate brokers and agents play too large a part in the real estate transaction?

63%    Yes    37%     No

13.    Would you like to see attorneys play a larger part in the real estate trans action?

61%    Yes    19%     No
20%    Leave as is