Lawyer’s Guide to Starting a Real Estate Law Practice

Are you a lawyer thinking of starting your own real estate law practice and looking for the best real estate law software to streamline your operations? If so, you’re in luck! There are a lot of opportunities in real estate for attorneys that can help you make money and grow your career. To be successful, you must act as an attorney and a leader. You’ll have to view your career as both a business and a profession.

This blog will provide you with all the information you need to get started or enhance your real estate law practice. We’ll discuss the basics as well as tips on how to grow your business. So, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been practicing for a while, this post is for you.

Real Estate Law Practice: What to Expect

Once you’ve opened your own real estate law practice, you can expect a typical day to involve performing extensive due diligence, which will include reviewing settlement statements and files. Other times, the task could be drafting documents such as loan agreements or purchase/sale contracts for homes or commercial properties.

Real Estate Transactions and Contracts

These types of transactions require time spent negotiating terms and prices with sellers in order to make sure everything goes smoothly. Most, if not all, of your interactions will be non-confrontational, which is a draw for many attorneys. These transactions will also usually require a closing.

Closing a real estate transaction requires extensive coordination, from reviewing title searches and surveys to drafting contracts and preliminary closing documents. The process is exciting but also very challenging because of all these moving parts that come into play when closing real estate deals. To make transactions go by smoothly and efficiently, real estate law software will be a useful support tool for your practice.

With Easysoft’s Real Estate Closing Software, you can save valuable time by automating the settlement process while complying with the latest real estate laws. This powerful software is designed for those who want an edge in this industry by automating complex calculations that reduce risk while increasing the profit margin on each closing transaction.

Opening a Real Estate Law Practice

Opening a real estate law practice can be a profitable venture. You’ll need to first draft up a business plan because it's important to have an idea of what you want your business to look like. You should also know branding assets like your mission statement, vision, and values, and should set out goals and objectives for your law firm. You’ll need to draft a budget with a realistic understanding of the finances, so there are no surprises down the line.

Once you have an idea of who and what your organization will be and a financial plan, you’ll want to find an appropriate space to operate out of. These days, some real estate law practices occur solely online, but many still have brick and mortar locations. It’s often a good idea to look for where other real estate practice offices are located within your area. Then you can decide whether you want to compete on the same block as your direct real estate law competitors or find your own corner of the local market.

Part of the planning process for your real estate practice will include staffing and workflow for specific services you will provide. Along with these plans, learning about and selecting the right technology and tools, including real estate law software, will be integral piece for your vision and budget. Knowing how you will automate and streamline operations before they start can prevent many frustrations that may come with starting a new firm.

Real Estate Practice Areas

You’ll need to identify the real estate practice areas you want to focus on. There’s a possibility for expertise in all areas of real estate law including:

• Residential and commercial conveyancing- Preparing documents for property transfers
• Institutional and private mortgages- Traditional and non-traditionally contracts and transactions
• Leasehold residential and commercial properties- Leasing and tenancy contracts and issues
• Subdivision and consolidation of lands- Compliance with local, state, and federal regulations
• Contracts for purchase and sale of property- Commercial and residential
• Property development- Including strata property development

How to build a real estate law practice

Once you’ve opened your real estate law practice, you’re going to want to build out your client roster. We have three tried and tested tips to get you started:

1. Network, network, network. The best way to build and develop relationships in your network is often through other professionals. Your professional connections are an important client acquisition tool that can take you far when attracting new cases or referrals from others within the industry. Having a professional refer you to a new client pays off in dividends — make sure you network with others who have a good reputation in their space.
2. Have an SEO strategy. One of the best ways to gain new business is through digital marketing — everything today is online. When someone needs a service they don’t have a personal referral for, they will turn to search engines. You want to show up on Google’s front page — in a good way. Hire an SEO professional to make sure you are.
3. Have a digital marketing strategy. The first thing someone will do when they hear about your business is Google you. You want to make sure their web experience with your business is a pleasant one, if they have a hard time understanding what you can do for them or easily contact you, they won’t bother reaching out.

Running an Efficient Real Estate Law Practice

Like any business owner, ensuring your firm runs efficiently should be a top priority. Document and file preparation, bookkeeping, and legal calculations can be cumbersome manual tasks that are multiplied each time changes occur during negotiations. When these updates are done manually, the risk for human error also rises.

Real Estate Law Software: A Game-Changer for Your Practice

Technology and automation software can streamline your firm’s tasks and workflows to maximize revenue, reduce paper usage, and minimize errors. With capabilities like auto-calculation and centralized data entry, repetition and the time that accompanies it become a thing of the past.

For attorneys who choose to offer real estate closing services to their clients, automation software can be an affordable efficiency tool when the right product is selected. Designed specifically for legal professionals, Easysoft's real estate law software provides efficiency by automating the calculations and workflows of the closing process.

Easysoft's Real Estate Law Software offers a range of features tailored to the needs of real estate law practitioners. TRID compliant and easy-to-use, our software reduces calculation errors, eliminates redundant data entry, maximizes productivity, and generates final-form documents including the Closing Disclosure and HUD.

Begin your free 7-day trial, and see how simple real estate law software can make your first or next closing.