How the KSLN team's experience makes a difference when you’re buying and selling real estate

Fundamental to KSLN’s mission is keeping clients informed throughout the course of real estate transactions, to prevent unwanted surprises.

The real estate sales agreement is made, and the contract goes to the lawyer. Then what happens?

At Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak LLP, it means an experienced attorney guides the client through the weeks-long process. That’s what Doug B. experienced when he was selling his house and moving into a new property.

“I've bought and sold multiple houses and worked with multiple lawyers, but I was just very impressed by the speed of the responsiveness,” Doug said.

When the law firm he typically hired no longer handled his type of real estate transaction, he asked a friend for a referral.

He was buying into a co-op, which is not the traditional real estate transaction in Buffalo. His friend recommended Jeffrey A. Carlino, a partner at KSLN who joined the firm in 2011.

How we approach real estate transactions

“The biggest part of any real estate deal is making sure the contract says what both people want it to say, and understand what it says,” Carlino said. “There are lots and lots of moving parts, and any one of them can cause you heartburn if something is not understood by the client.”

That’s why the first thing Carlino does is have a phone call with his client to go through the whole contract. If there are any red flags, he wants to understand them and address them up front.

That means letting the client know about time frames and that the closing date listed on the contract is flexible and depends on many moving parts.

“They're all intertwined,” Carlino said. “It's a cascade of events in a real estate closing.”

Listening to our client

Doug said his questions were answered promptly, and communication was proactive.

“I didn't feel like I had to ever call and say, ‘Now, what about this? What's happening here? What's, you know, what's the next timing?‘“ he said. “They were very anticipatory and extremely proactive about keeping us informed of where things stood, what was happening.”

That wasn’t by accident. That’s how Carlino and KSLN treat every client. And it takes a team. Carlino credits his assistant, who is well versed in real estate, stays on top of the process and helps keep the client informed.

Delays can crop up for different reasons, but fundamental to KSLN’s mission is keeping clients informed throughout the course of transactions to prevent unwanted surprises.

“If you wait until the end to tell your client that, hey, closing is going to be delayed by 20 days because of A, B and C, they might say, ‘What are you talking about?’” Carlino said.

That wasn’t Doug’s experience.

“Most people would expect good service, but this was just a little bit above and beyond,” said Doug, who has already sent a referral to the firm.