Estate Planning Law Firm in Northern VA & Shenandoah Valley - McCarthy & Akers, PLC

REAL ESTATE LAWYERS IN WINCHESTER, VA

Our Customers Come First.

Your needs are our priority. Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer,
investor, or developer, we will help you achieve your real estate goals.
How our Winchester Real Estate Lawyers Help

Communication is Key.

Time is of the essence. Meet your deadlines without the worry of delayed responses. With frequent communication, our Winchester real estate lawyers keep you in the loop and ensure your transaction is as smooth as possible. We also offer professional advice and referrals to other businesses.

Timely Responses

Many real estate lawyers in Winchester are neither timely nor communicative, but with real estate transactions, it’s important that you receive the correct information, as fast as possible. That’s why our firm focuses on bringing you exceptional legal advice when you need it.

Great Service

At McCarthy & Akers, our Winchester real estate lawyers are committed to bring you the best quality service. Our firm is customer-focused and provides expert legal advice and guidance for all real estate transactions. By meeting our deadlines, we help you meet yours.

Residential & Commercial Settlements

Whether you are buying, selling or refinancing, McCarthy & Akers, PLC, can handle all your settlement needs. Our firm is a Virginia State Bar Certified Settlement Agent and offers a wide array of settlement services in both Virginia and West Virginia. With competitive fees and unparalleled legal expertise, we’ll help you with closing.

1031 Exchange Services

We have developed a level of expertise in handling IRS § 1031 Exchanges. Whether you’re looking for a settlement attorney or a qualified intermediary for your tax deferred exchange, we can assist you with a smooth transition from one property to another. Our real estate lawyers will help you minimize your tax liabilities and prevent large tax consequences.

Homeowners Associations

Running an effective and efficient homeowners association is a difficult task. With the help of our expert real estate lawyers you can navigate your association through the many legal and procedural obstacles. From amending covenants and restrictions to handling delinquent dues, we can offer practical advice to help you create an even better community.

FAQs for Real Estate Lawyers in Winchester, VA

How do your services differ from those of other real estate lawyers in Winchester?

We employ the latest technology to streamline the process for all parties involved. The real estate agent, lender, buyer, seller, and anyone that’s involved in the transaction, has access to our real estate software. This cuts out a lot of data input and keeps our clients abreast of what’s happening in real time, so they can actually see what’s occurring, and receive constant updates on the transaction.

Since our Winchester real estate lawyers do a great volume of real estate transactions, we have a dedicated staff to process real estate and understand how the real estate process itself works. This allows us to offer superior customer service, more efficient service, quick turnarounds, and better results than attorneys that don’t handle such a high volume.

With multiple real estate attorneys in various locations, we have offices throughout the Valley and serve clients even as far East as Northern Virginia, Arlington, Alexandria, Manassas, and Fairfax. Wherever you’re located in northern Virginia, we can help. With staff located all throughout the area, we offer greater appointment availability & can handle more closings at one time than other attorneys.

Are there large companies or organizations whom your Winchester real estate attorneys have supported?

Our firm has worked with countless large organizations. We have worked with multinational companies in acquiring local commercial properties and assisted local and national home builders in subdividing properties and creating both commercial and residential subdivisions. In addition, we’ve also represented large commercial enterprises in acquiring commercial real estate for factories, warehouses, and commercial locations.

Are there any specific laws or regulations relevant to real estate law that apply to Winchester?

There are specific regulations regarding historic preservation. The downtown historic preservation district requires that any change to the exterior facade of the house, that can be seen from the street, has to first receive approval from the downtown historical development board before any changes are made.

Are there local businesses in Winchester you would refer to for services related to real estate law?

Yes. If you’re in need of a real estate agent, we have a strong list of excellent realtors we can recommend, depending on the property or type of person you’d like to work with. The same applies for a CPA: we recommend Kilmer & Associates to handle things like capital gains on the sale of real estate. For pest inspectors, we highly recommend Professional Termite & Pest Services of Winchester. For moving services, we refer to Mover Dudes. For any services associated with the selling or moving to and from your property, we have relationships with people and businesses that we can recommend (cleaning services, appraisers, and lenders, etc.).

Within real estate law, what services do your attorneys provide, and to whom?

We are a full service real estate firm. We provide real estate settlement services for people buying or selling property. We provide development services: helping someone with the development of raw land into a commercial, residential building, or subdivision.

We also handle land use, so we can take land from one particular zoning and get its designation changed through administrative proceedings at the county and state levels. We set up real estate holding companies for investment purposes and prepare deeds to transfer property. We also prepare financing documents for both institutional and private lenders that would finance the purchase or sale of property.

What are the top three services you provide to buyers?
  • We coordinate all of the aspects of their purchase with the seller, their lender, their realtors to make sure that everything’s taken care of when they arrive to purchase the property.
  • We review the title report to make sure that there are no issues on the title report, which could negatively affect the purchaser buying the property.
  • We help buyers obtain title insurance, which ensures that if something pops up in the future, they’re fully covered.
How do your services help sellers?

We coordinate all the aspects of the sale, so there’s very little that the seller has to do or worry about. This includes contacting their lender in order to order a pay off or mortgage, working with the real estate agents to ensure that everything is aligned for the day of the closing, and ensuring that buyers are performing on their side.

If issues do arise where there might be a disagreement or a misunderstanding between the parties, we can help to mediate disagreements and find a way forward. We take out all the guesswork, so both parties are satisfied and we can move forward with the sale.

How should a potential client evaluate real estate lawyers and why?

A good real estate lawyer needs to have the following qualities:

  • Certified – The first and most important thing is to make sure that the real estate attorney or firm is certified, so they actually have certification from the state bar to handle real estate transactions.
  • Experienced – Since real estate is a very complex area of law, you want to look at what their level of experience is. While title companies and some attorneys may hold themselves as being real estate attorneys, very few firms actually have the breadth or extent of experience needed. They often don’t understand all the nuances of real estate that can come into play and can save or sink a real estate closing.
  • Service / Inside Knowledge – Make sure that the attorneys understand the importance of offering service to the client. This means ensuring that the attorney doesn’t look at themselves as someone who just picks apart a case and finds problems with it, but rather looks for solutions first. It’s their job and they must always try to find a way to make sure that the transaction is happening.
  • Staff To Handle it – Find someone who has a staff capable of handling all of the volume and the issues that happen in a typical real estate transaction. Small law firms with one or two attorneys and no staff typically aren’t as efficient and don’t have the experience level necessary to handle a typical real estate closing in the modern age. It’s important that they can get the job done on time, so other people, such as the lenders, can do the same.
  • Technology – Lastly, look at their technology. Do they have the technology or means to make the transaction smooth and efficient? These days, it’s more important than ever to protect the data, information, and funds of the person involved in the transaction. Making sure they have up-to-date closing software will ensure that all the recording fees are exact, and there won’t be any surprises in the end.
What is the benefit of hiring a real estate attorney rather than a title company?

There are definite benefits to hiring an attorney versus a title company, when it comes to real estate transactions.

First, title companies are never allowed to give legal advice to their clients. Attorneys, however, can and do advise their clients on the legalities of their transaction or their contract. It can often help work them through issues that might arise between the different parties: a title company is barred, they’re forbidden to get involved in such things, or give advice.

Real estate attorneys can oftentimes find creative solutions for a deal that’s falling apart, which happens frequently with closings. They also have a level of knowledge and understanding of real estate transactions that goes far beyond what any title company couple offer.

More often than not, title companies end up coming to us for advice and guidance, since we have the knowledge and understanding to make things happen. We have access to the court systems, if title reports need cleaning up or if there’s a sticky situation with an estate. We understand how to go to the court and clarify the title so that things can move forward. By creatively using deeds and the law, we can move things forward or create contracts before and after the closing. This ensures that everyone gets what they bargained for with the deal.

What is the benefit of hiring McCarthy & Akers rather than other real estate attorneys?

There is a definite benefit to using an attorney with experience and knowledge vs. a real estate attorney whose firm may occasionally deal with some real estate. We handle a lot of real estate closings and we are some of the most experienced and knowledgeable practitioners in the business. With over 1,200 closings per year, and upwards of five closings per day, it’s also very rare to see a situation we’ve never faced before.

Real estate is second nature to us. With the sheer volume of cases we handle and years of experience, we know how to anticipate and deal with almost any issue. Our firm utilizes cutting edge technology, offers superior service, and is more knowledgeable than other firms. We get the job done more often than we do.

As a real estate lawyer - if a friend told you they were buying (or selling) a house, what would your top 3 pieces of advice be?
  • Get an experienced real estate attorney. Not having legal representation and being stuck in the middle of a dispute or misunderstanding regarding a contract can be devastating.
  • You need an attorney that will advocate for you, that you can rely on to support you and make sure that you’re well represented and not taken advantage of. Use a reputable attorney, not a title company, to handle your side of the transaction. Even if you’re the seller and the buyer has chosen to work with the title company, the seller can still choose to have separate representation of their own. So, always make sure that you have your own separate representation.
  • Make sure that you have someone look at the timeline with regard to the transaction, to make sure that you can actually complete it within the time frame required.

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Our firm has represented over 16,000 clients across VA & WV.

Proudly delivering service to our clients for 2 decades.

Associations

Our firms attorneys are:

  • Admitted to practice before all the Courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of West Virginia; the Federal District Court for Western District of Virginia and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
  • Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
  • Members of the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
  • Members of the Virginia State Bar
  • Members of the West Virginia State Bar
  • Members Winchester/Frederick County Bar Association
  • Members of the Warren County Bar Association
  • Members of the Fairfax County Bar Association
  • Members of the Prince William County Bar Association
  • Members of the Thomas More Law Center
Awards and Designations
  • Named among Virginia’s “Legal Elite” by Virginia Business Magazine
  • Lead Counsel Rated
  • Awarded the Distinguished Member designation by the Thomas More Law Center

Our attorneys have tried cases at all levels of the Virginia Courts including appeals before the Virginia Supreme Court.

  • Very Nice Environment Here.

    “ Very Nice Environment here. We got the help we needed and were pleased when we walked out.”
    Cark R.
  • I won my court case!

    “From the moment I called the office I was treated so kindly. I made an appointment for a consultation and was very pleased with that service. I did not feel rushed at all. I’m happy to say that I won my court case!”
    Jenny C.
  • Quick and efficient.

    “Good communication”
    Alan R.
  • Amazing Lawyers!

    “They answered all my questions!”
    Heather E.
Questions or Schedule An Appointment? Click to Call (540) 722-2181

Our Locations

Shenandoah
Valley

Winchester

302 W Boscawen St., Winchester, VA 22601

Front Royal

502 N Royal Ave, Front Royal, VA 22630

Strasburg

145 E King St., Strasburg, VA 22657

Shenandoah
Valley

Northern
Virginia

Manassas

7900 Sudley Rd Ste 806, Manassas, VA 20109
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Experienced

We have high standards, and believe in delivering the best quality services.

Responsive

We’ll respond to you quickly and report to you regularly.

Questions or Schedule An Appointment? Click to Call (540) 722-2181

Hours Of Operation

Mon-Fri: 9:00am-5:00pm
Saturday, By Appointment
While other law firms may see you as just a number or another case, we take the time to get to know you and understand your legal needs. We will craft a solution that works best for you.
Disclaimer: The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.

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The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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