No real estate course or effective seminar is a substitute for a good attorney. Finding a good real estate attorney could be difficult, since most of the attorneys are not themselves investors or familiar with creative transactions. Most attorneys would give you just advice to keep them from getting sued, but not enough advice to show how you could make more money out of a deal.

A good real estate attorney is one who counsel you of the risks suggest alternative ways of doing real estate transaction and charges a reasonable fee for doing so. A bad real estate attorney either says nothing, points out problems without offering solutions or even systematically kills the deals. This is why attorneys are often referred to as "deal killers".

Ask few other investors in your area who they use as an attorney. Join a local real estate investors association and also ask for referrals. Ask local real estate agents and title companies for referrals. Do not open up the Yellow Pages and pick someone who just claims to be a real estate expert.

When interviewing a potential attorney, ask the following questions:

?Do you have a rental property?

?How many closings do you normally do per year?

?What sort of odd transactions have you done recently?

?Have you done any evictions? Or other foreclosures? Zoning board appeals? Condo conversions?

?Can you explain to me the following concepts: lease/option, wraparound mortgage, installment land contract?

Get a feel for the experience and personality of the attorney. A good attorney on your side is value his weight in gold, particularly if he could ever do creative closings.