Real Estate Attorneys
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Real Estate Attorneys
March 2007
Hi there --
Can anyone recommend a good lawyer for representing buyers in
the house buying process (in lieu of using a real estate
agent)?
Thanks!
I do not recommend using an attorney instead of a broker as a
buyer's agent. I am a broker, and as it might appear to be self-
serving to say so, unlike many lawyers, good brokers know all of
the aspects of the homebuying process and are bound by laws and
ethics in protecting a buyer's interests. I resent the
accusations made by the anonymous postings stating there is
an ''inherent conflict of interest'' and the ''networking'' works
against the buyer's interests. We are among the most regulated
professions in the country, and are held accountable when a
mistake is made. Have you ever tried to sue a lawyer? I
challenge anyone who wants to slam another profession without
using truth or logic to at least have the courage to sign their
name.
Tim Cannon, Broker
June 2006
We're planning to subdivide the Oakland property our house is on
and essentially sell our backyard to our neighbor. (I know, it's
an unusual situation -- we happen to have a large, double lot and
we don't use it.) We're looking for an attorney specializing in
real estate to help us draft a private contract with our
neighbor, who wants to purchase the property. Does anyone have
any reference to a professional who does NOT charge exorbitantly
and works in the East Bay? We already have a buyer, so I'd like
to avoid paying a big commission to a real estate agent if we can
anon
I recommend Joanna Kozubal- you can call her to inquire at 415-
350-9967. My husband is a mortgage broker and refers his clients to her. allison
ag_g
I know a wonderful real estate attorney in Oakland, Thomas Eastridge. His phone # is
510.287.9651. He looks over all of my real estate contracts and I have found him to be
thorough, conscientious, and a hell of a nice guy.
I will recommend Deb Graceffa. She is both a realtor and attorney
and she locates in Oakland by Embarcadero. You can contact her at
deb[at]gandgllp.com or 510-459-7623. She is great. Dianne W
March 2006
My wife and I are in need of a real estate attorney to help us
draw up the proper paperwork for selling our home ourselves.
We would like to work with someone who has a proven track
record and is in the Richmond/Pinole area.
jts
Try Gregory Lewis. He's both an attorney who knows real estate
law and he's a licensed real estate broker... so it's a two for
one. I have not hired him, but rather my husband knows him
professionally and I know him socially. He is really honest, easy
going, and smart (UC Berkeley grad, Stanford MBA, and USF Law).
He's done ''For-Sale By Owners'' work in the East Bay and San
Francisco since 1989.
Gregory Lewis
(510) 245-2633
125 University, Berkeley, CA 94710
July 2002
Can anyone recommend a good commercial property attorney
in Berkeley/Oakland? I need to sell my portion of a
family restaurant and need honest, solid guidance.
Thanks.
Bridget
For issues regarding personal and commercial real estate,
I highly recommend Jim Fisher (2340 Lakeshore Avenue,
Oakland, CA 94606, (510) 834-0396). He has extensive
(15+ years) experience in many areas of real estate law.
Moreover, he is very honest and thorough in his work.
If he isn't the best person for the case, he will provide
you with referrals.
SJ
In response to the person looking for a commercial real
estate attorney and in response to an older listing
from someone looking for an attorney for a dispute with
a previous homeowner, I highly recommend Charles Bronitsky.
His office is in Redwood City and phone number is 650-780-3500.
My husband and I purchased a house about 2 years ago
and incurred major expenses for something we felt should
have been disclosed. We began with one attorney who
charged $$$ and merely made a few phone calls.
Concerned about escalating expenses, we switched to
Charlie. He was up front with us, kept the process
moving, and offered sound advice, all the while being
conscious of our limited budget for his services. We
proceeded toward mediation and when the other side
became unreasonable, started to head to arbitration.
Charlie managed to negotiate a satisfactory settlement
for us before things escalated further. We were able
to handle everything by phone and email and did not
have to go to Redwood City to meet him or pay for his
time for a trip to the East Bay. We will definitely
use him again if the need arises.
Happy to no longer be in legal limbo
March 2002
Can anyone recommend a good commercial property attorney
in Berkeley/Oakland? I need to sell my portion of a
family restaurant and need honest, solid guidance.
Thanks.
Bridget
Call the Tarpoff & Talbert realtors in Oakland (655-3001)
and explain your problem. We had a major problem with
a deal last year and called them on the off chance they
knew someone, since they write such a useful column in
the local weekly papers. They gave us the name of an
attorney, whom we ended up not using for reasons that
had NOTHING to do with him, but I was very impressed
with him. He was on vacation in Newfoundland and
responded to my voicemail within a few hours and
offered to help long distance. Didn't save his name
so I can only suggest you start where we did. Good
luck.
For commerical real estate issues, contact Andy Cohen
at Janin, Morgan & Brenner (415) 981-0670. He is very
experienced, honest, and extremely thorough. He and his
partner, Peter Wohlfeiler, both have 18+ years in the
field and have seen virtually every situation and
resolved almost every type of real estate issue. I
recommend them without reservation.
egc
Jan 2004
We are looking for a real-estate lawyer, preferrably in the
Lamorinda area. We recently purchased a home in Lamorinda, but
have come to realized that there are some issues that we are
faced with, which were never disclosed to us. We would like to
know what our rights and options are.
Thanks.
Anon
I would recommend:
Marshall A. Johnson
Law Office of Marshall Johnson
D/A Financial Building
3 Altarinda Road, Suite 201
Orinda, California 94563
marshall at propertylawgroup.com
He has worked on issues such as yours, and he is very upfront
and honest about possible outcomes, approaches, etc.
sj
July 2003
I am searching for a good real estate lawyer in the East
Bay to take on a case involving my home (defective
construction and lack of disclosure by seller.) I would
appreciate it if you could indicate the basis of your
recommendation.
Jy
My husband and his partner are real estate lawyers who were
corporate counsel for Fidelity National Title before going
into private practice. They handle everything from boundary
disputes to construction defects. Give them a call: Cliff
Baker and Jeff Beeby, Baker & Beeby, 510/531-4115.
Dashka
I highly recommend Walter K. Pyle, Attorney at Law. He
handles real estate/construction litigation. He is a very
skilled lawyer with whom I've had experience. He
knows how to take a case to trial but is a skilled
negotiator. He is very intuned to his clients. He's very
honest and thorough and his credentials are quite
impressive. I know he's handled many non-disclosure
cases with a good success rate.
Give him a call. His office is in Downtown Berkeley.
(510)849-4424
A professional collegue.
I recommend my husband, Sterling Johnson. He's a great
lawyer. He has 25 years experience in construction
contract disputes in the Bay Area. He's also been teaching
legal aspects of construction contracting, on and off for
the past 20 years, at the Building Education Center in
Berkeley.
In his law practice Sterling does an excellent job of
working with his clients to to identify and choose legal
strategies that match his client's value systems. He can
be reached at 510 632 0225 or sterlingjo@earthling.net.
Maryann
I highly recommend Walter K. Pyle, Attorney at Law for real
estate and construction matters. His office is in downtown
Berkeley -- (510)849-4424. He is a really good lawyer with
impressive credentials who is thorough, knowledgeable,
and really interested in his clients. He is an experienced
litigator who is able to take a case to trial if necessary but
also can capably negotiate settlements. I've witness his
success, and can't say enough good things about him.
Satisfied and saying so!
August 2002
I am in need of a Real Estate Lawyer. I recently purchased
a home, that now, after only 2 months of residing in is
showing major stuctural problems which will cost me a
tremendous amount. After having an engineer examine
cracking in the foundation and exterior stucco, I have
decided to take legal action on the grounds of information
undisclosed during the purchase process. My realtor -
Coldwell Banker is doing very little to nothing to help.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for a real
estate lawyer?
Diana
One of the top real estate attorneys in No. California is
Richard Goodman, Esq. (Oakland directory) I have used him
for the obstructed sale of a high-end condo (the homeowners'
assn. had abandoned their fiduciary resp. in fixing the
communal courtyard), reinforcing a surveyed property line,
and making a gen. contractor make financial reparation on
some damage and incompetence. Besides being an excellent
attorney, who will also tell you if you shouldn't pursue
legal action because of a baseless claim, opposing counsel
tends to ''throw in the towel'' when they see his name--he is
that good and reknown. He is very much worth the cost, and
often your homeowners will kick in for some of the legal
expenses. Tell him Danna sent you. G
Danna
March 2002
We are seeking an experienced attorney in the field of real estate. Our
problem is that after we bought our home we found that the sellers had
failed to disclose some major problems with the property - one of which
has cost us 10's of thousands of dollars to rectify. In some cases they told
us out right lies. We need someone who has been down this road before
and can tell us if we have a case and can pursue it. The previous sellers
and their realtor are pretty aggressive people so we need someone who
can deal with that type of personality. thanks. Anonymous
We found a great real estate lawyer in Berkeley who
helped us through a very difficult situation. His name is
John Gutierrez - 510-644-1904. I highly recommend
him!
I used Bob Sheldon of Sheldon and Mankin in Walnut
Creek to represent me in a similar situation to the one
you describe. He can be reached at 925 935-0300 or at
rsheldon at smlawyers.com. The strength of your case
will depend on what was disclosed to you by the seller
and the seller's agent, what inspections you yourself
made to find out about the condition of the property and
what you can show the seller had prior knowledge of
and did not disclose to you.
Mary.
I'm a trial lawyer with experience in real estate
litigation matters. One of the cases I am currently
handling is a suit by the purchaser of a condominium
and a homeowner's association against the seller of the
condo for failing to disclose extensive dry rot and for
having work performed without a valid permit (in spite
of disclosures that assured the potential buyers that all
work was done pursuant to valid permits and in
compliance with all applicable building codes).
I would be happy to talk with you about your case. If it
is as you say and there were deliberate
misrepresentations (and if we could prove them), you
may well have a case worth pursuing. Feel free to give
me a call to discuss it. TEL: 510-845-6442
For issues regarding personal and commercial real
estate, I highly recommend Jim Fisher (2340 Lakeshore
Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606, (510) 834-0396). He has
extensive (15+ years) experience in many areas of real
estate law. Moreover, he is very honest and thorough in
his work. If he isn't the best person for the case, he will
provide you with referrals.
SJ
I recommend Barry Gross in Oakland. He's very
experienced, came highly recommended, & was very
helpful to me. 834-5020. Tell him I referred you from
this Parents Network. Good luck!
Vicki
Feb 2000
Attorney specializing in real estate needed to draft a private contract
among loan cosigners/nominal purchasers of a house. Does anyone have any
reference to a professional who does not charge exorbitantly and works in
the East Bay? Referrals to a good referral service also welcome.
Vera
My name is Kari Erickson Levine, and I work with Seyfarth, Shaw,
Fairweather and Geraldson in San
Francisco. However, I live Berkeley. I have extensive experience in Real
Estate and
Construction law. Please give me a call and we can talk about your case. I
can be reached at
415.397.2823 during business hours, and at 510.848.1494 during the
evenings. I hope to talk to
you.
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Last updated: Sep 2, 2007
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