Real estate is a very serious business and all the related laws and services are also very serious, so before you start any real estate actions you need to meet with a real estate lawyer,
 and before you meet with the lawyer you need to prepare your papers for the meeting. Of course you can skip the preparations, but it will result in longer time for the lawyer to get into your case and more money spent for you.
Before the meeting a real estate lawyer in Canada will usually require information on you and about the case in general. Some of the lawyers speed up the process of gathering information by compiling a questionnaire for the clients. The only thing that is left for a client is to fill out the document and attach all the requested documents. The lawyer will be interested in knowing your personal and business background, so the best way is to write it down carefully and provide the information to the real estate lawyer. He or she will also require the information on the other parties involved in the case. It is required to avoid possible conflicts of interest and to make sure that the lawyer’s firm isn’t representing any of the parties already.
After the information is reviewed by the lawyer and the meeting is arranged, you need to prepare documentation and questions. You need to carefully think what documents will be required at the first meeting. The best solution will be to take all the documents related to the case, it will save time in case some unimportant document is required. For example if you are a home owner you need to bring the purchase or sale agreement and mortgage documentation. If it is a lease problem, bring documentation and the lease itself; if foreclosure, all papers related to foreclosure. All the documents related to payments are very important, if you don’t have them ready, be sure to get them from the bank. In case of payments everything is important: bank statements, canceled checks, money order receipts, etc. also the names and contacts of all the representatives that you contacted are important. The correspondence is important too and it doesn’t matter if the correspondence is financial or simply related to the case. Needless to say that all the documentation must be properly organized, it is useful to have a calendar with all the case related dates marked. And of course you need some ID, so the lawyer can be sure that you are not some criminal.
The questions are the second important part of any real estate lawyer meeting. Of course the main questions that you need to ask are related to the background and experience of the lawyer. If you have a possibility, check his or her history before the meeting. Also ask about the strategy and success rate in the upcoming case. And remember that there most of the lawyers specialize in certain types of real estate claims, so be sure to choose a lawyer with experience in solving your type of problem.
