Real Estate

At Goldstein Law Group, our skilled attorneys represent Monmouth County residents in real estate matters. We have experience handling closing transactions, court proceedings involving breaches of contract, contract disputes, and title issues or disputes, involving both commercial and residential property. These services include obtaining surveys, title examinations, closing of loan documents, preparation and filing of deeds, preparing, reviewing and negotiating leases; evaluation of and defending easements, and access problems. Our Middlesex and Monmouth County real estate lawyers also have assisted clients with property line disputes, real estate closings, development agreements, construction contracts, mortgage financing, foreclosures, condemnations, zoning and land use applications to local municipal and county planning and zoning boards. Our clients include purchasers, sellers, homeowners, contractors, developers, title companies and banks.

We are prepared to handle a real estate deal from start to finish so that our clients, both buyers and sellers, can focus on their long-term objectives in connection with the transaction. In New Jersey, buyers are protected against sellers that fail to disclose material facts about a property or that hide information about their property to entice the buyer to buy. It is implied that, when a house is sold in this state, the seller has guaranteed the house is habitable.

If there are any latent (hidden) defects, a seller must advise the buyer of them. For example, if the foundation was poured improperly and has substantial cracks, and as a seller, you know that this has caused framing issues in the home that need to be addressed every few years, you may be required to disclose this fact. If you make materially false statements or make material omissions, the buyer relies upon these, and the house proves to be uninhabitable or otherwise causes a loss to the buyer, you may be sued.

Often, the sales contract will contain representations or promises made by the seller to the buyer. The contract may identify how the seller has used the property, disclose any improvements made that required permits from your municipality, and state that there is no zoning violation in connection with the use of the property. The real estate attorneys at our Monmouth and Middlesex County firm are very familiar with these contracts and can help prepare them if you are a seller or review them if you are a buyer.

In some cases, a real estate contract includes an "as is" clause, which indicates to the buyer that the seller does not intend to make repairs to the property in the course of the sale. This clause is often accompanied by an inspection clause that allows the buyer to cancel the contract if the inspection reveals “major” defects (the term “major” is usually an issue that must also be negotiated between the parties during the three day attorney review period in a residential real estate contract prepared by a realtor for a 1-4 family transaction). The "as is" clause does not protect a seller from liability in a fraud or misrepresentation case.

There may be problems with a property down the road that are not immediately apparent. For example, there may be a boundary line dispute, an easement or environmental issue, or a latent defect associated with the property that was not known to the seller or that was known to the seller but not disclosed. We can help buyers of real estate determine how to address these issues and sellers to avoid exposure to liability down the road, after the sale has closed and they thought they would never have to deal with anything about that closing again.

The property transactions lawyers at Goldstein Law Group are familiar with the real estate issues that may arise in Middlesex County. Our experience as trial lawyers gives us insight into what sorts of problems are likely to arise down the road in any given transaction. We have represented clients in Rumson, Red Bank, and Old Bridge, East Brunswick, Sayreville, Manalapan, Freehold and Marlboro among many other communities throughout New Jersey. You can contact our Middlesex and Monmouth County real estate attorneys at 732-967-6777 or via our online form.