Real estate is indeed one of the safest investments and many people use real estate as an investment avenue. Real estate law is not just the expertise of real estate lawyers and real estate brokers. Every real estate investor should know at least the basics of real estate law. In fact, a short course or concise book on real estate law can sometimes be very helpful (and is generally sufficient for understanding the basics of real estate law).
What you need to know about real estate law is the legal procedures that you need to follow to ensure a smooth transfer of title to the property you are acquiring/selling and other related procedures. You need to understand the fee structure that you need to be aware of under real estate law (e.g. stamp duty, etc.). You can also learn about the classification of properties and how the basic real estate laws apply to them. How real estate law treats commercial and residential properties differently. Tax law in real estate is one of the things you will be most interested in. Therefore, your study of real estate law should also include all aspects related to taxation. How mortgages are handled from a real estate law perspective is another thing you should know about. Then, for those who wish to rent out their properties, they should also be well informed about real estate law regarding rentals.
However, you shouldn’t overdo it, meaning you shouldn’t start getting hysterical about real estate law (lest you end up wasting a lot of time learning everything about real estate law and not having time to evaluate your real estate investments). Leave the intricacies of real estate law to real estate attorneys (and to some extent, real estate brokers will also take real estate law as part of their course to get their broker’s license).
Understanding the various legal terms mentioned in real estate law will not only help you enhance your understanding of real estate, but will also help you actually get results in your conversations with real estate attorneys/brokers. You should also note that while some of the basics are the same, real estate law varies from state to state. Also, real estate laws (especially tax-related real estate laws) change over time, so you need to stay on top of those changes. Any big changes will appear prominently in the news, and you’ll know about them anyway.
Therefore, it does help (and, in fact, is essential) to know a little bit about real estate law.