Real Estate Lawyer Interview Preparation Guide

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A lot of times, especially with homeowners, there are going to be some questions and you’re going to interface with the person working on your case. “Determine whether you have a rapport with that person and whether you’re getting the kind of attention you want.

This gives you the opportunity to talk through a solid example of not only decision making, but also to explain how to involve others in making that decision.

This is one question that you know you are going to get so there is no excuse for being unprepared. Concentrate on discussing your main strengths. List three or four proficiencies e.g. your ability to learn quickly, determination to succeed, positive attitude, your ability to relate to people and achieve a common goal. You may be asked to give examples of the above so be prepared.

Many of the top advisors in the industry have designations such as certified public accountant (CPA), certified financial planner (CFP), certified fund specialist (CFS), chartered financial consultant (ChFC), chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered life underwriter (CLU) and/or juris doctor (JD), and carry their Series 7, 24, 51, 63, 65, 66 and insurance licenses.

There are not enough affordable options to meet the needs of older adults who do not need nursing home care, but do need assistance at home or in an affordable assisted living facility. In addition, while the downturn in the economy has affected everyone, every catastrophe creates an opportunity for people who are unscrupulous; so seniors were particularly hard hit by mortgage-lending abuses. Many people who worked hard to pay off their homes fell victim to con artists who convinced them to take out a mortgage to pay off credit cards or other unsecured debt; and in many cases the terms of those mortgages were misrepresented. We see a lot of seniors who are facing foreclosure because they got adjustable rate mortgages with artificially low starting rates or loans with balloon payments they couldn’t pay.

If you’re asking for help with something simple like a purchase agreement, maybe you wouldn’t mind having someone with one to three years of experience,” Hall says. “But if you’re dealing with a real estate development or something complex, you probably want somebody with eight to 15 years.

This is a really open question but we would be looking for two or three specific pointers with solid examples of where they have made a difference. For example, this could link to our core competencies around accountability, collaborative team-working and effective communication.

This question is really about your self-esteem, confidence and career aspirations. The answer must be 'yes', followed by a brief explanation as to what it is about your career so far that's made you happy. If you have hit a career plateau, or you feel you are moving too slowly, then you must qualify your answer.

State how you are looking for a new challenge, more responsibility, experience and a change of environment. Do not be negative in your reasons for leaving. It is rarely appropriate to cite salary as your primary motivator.

Advisors should be 100 percent transparent when it comes to explaining their fee structure so clients fully understand how they are paid. They should define which portion of the fee is paid out to the firm and which portion is paid out to the advisor.

Does your advisor charge on a tiered rate system or does he or she receive commissions on the assets you invest? It's important to understand the commissions that your advisors receive and whether or not they receive payments from mutual fund companies or investment companies that they recommend.

Because the real estate market was so terrible over the past six years or so, a large number of real estate agents left the profession as sales declined to historically low levels. There just weren't that many buyers out there and the number of sellers far outstripped the number of buyers. It was an extremely imbalanced marketplace, and it still is in many places. That said, there are good real estate agents and bad real estate agents; you need to determine whether your expectations were too high or whether there were real problems with the agents you picked to try to sell your home.

Conflict can make you feel uncomfortable but by preparing a structured example you can answer this question confidently, and convince the panel of your ability to deal with difficult situations. I think this is good advice for interview preparation in general. I think we’ve all left an interview knowing we didn’t give the best example we had.

The purpose of this question is to find out what your definition of difficult is and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving. In order to show yourself in a positive light, select a difficult work situation which was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.

Your advisor should always answer, "Yes, I am a fiduciary." In order to safeguard your assets, they should be held with reputable third-party custodians. Your advisor should address whether or not he or she has received disciplinary infractions both individually and as a firm.

Advisors who strictly adhere to a code of ethics and client bill of rights have defined standards in place that they can share with clients. Your advisor should be compliant with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra), the Securities and Exchange Commission and state and regulatory agencies.

Whether a co-op, condo or a homeowner’s association, community associations all have rules that control them. They are governed both by state law and by their own internal bylaws. Community association board members are elected by the property owners living in the community. The best thing that you can do to fix your situation is to get elected to the board of directors.

The “strengths” aspect should not be too difficult. Just make sure to bring up points that are essential to the position, and briefly mention how you would apply these strengths on a consistent basis at the firm.

The “weakness” question is the uncomfortable one. Most of the time, people are advised to answer this question with a strength masked as a weakness, such as “I work too much” or “I am too detail oriented.” However, the interviewer is probably an intelligent person, and your answer will probably just end up looking like a cop-out. It is best to be sincere, but not in a way that could jeopardize your chance to get the job. Think of an actual weakness that is not essential to the position and follow up with how you are working to improve on it.

We just completed a comprehensive study on condo-sales activity in downtown Chicago, and our outlook for the for-sale market is very positive. Last year the number of home sales citywide was up about 20% from 2011, but sales of condos in the core downtown neighborhoods jumped by more than one-third. We saw solid gains on a price-per-square-foot basis in Streeterville, River North, the Loop, the West Loop and even the South Loop. I think we'd be looking at even better numbers if we had the inventory, but in the West Loop for example, in the month of February, there was only a 45-day supply. Two years ago there was 16.5 months. On top of that, we're seeing really exciting things happening downtown with major employers setting up shop and strong retail investment in the neighborhoods.

Your advisor should focus on delivering proactive and transparent communications to clients. For example, our firm sends out trade notifications that explain every buy and sell decision. In addition, we send out a weekly market commentary, a monthly investment outlook and a quarterly market outlook video, along with several education videos, strategy fact sheets, industry updates, insightful statistics, informational whitepapers and more.

Making these types of resources available to clients will help educate investors and give them the information needed to know that we are actively monitoring their accounts.

Too often people address this by describing their management style: “people know I’m approachable with an open-door policy”. This does not answer the question. Show how you have used effective performance management to address issues and showed staff how they can contribute to organisational objectives.

People often shy away from explaining how they’ve addressed underperformance, not wanting to acknowledge that problems exist within their team. But this is an ideal opportunity to show how you’ve turned it around, or re-deployed someone into a role more suited to their skills, motivation and abilities.

☛ How does your job fit in to your department and company?
☛ What do you enjoy about this industry?
☛ Give an example of when you have worked under pressure.
☛ What kinds of people do you like working with?
☛ Give me an example of when your work was criticised.
☛ Give me an example of when you have felt anger at work. How did you cope and did you still perform a good job?
☛ What kind of people do you find it difficult to work with?
☛ Give me an example of when you have had to face a conflict of interest at work.
☛ Tell me about the last time you disagreed with your boss.
☛ Give me an example of when you haven't got on with others.
☛ Do you prefer to work alone or in a group? Why?
☛ This organisation is very different to your current employer - how do you think you are going to fit in?
☛ What are you looking for in a company?
☛ How do you measure your own performance?
☛ What kind of pressures have you encountered at work?
☛ Are you a self-starter? Give me examples to demonstrate this?
☛ What changes in the workplace have caused you difficulty and why?
☛ How do you feel about working long hours and/or weekends?
☛ Give me an example of when you have been out of your depth.
☛ What have you failed to achieve to date?
☛ What can you bring to this organisation?

There is no restriction on a seller conducting an in-depth interview of a prospective purchaser. Most often, though, and more desirable, would be for the seller’s broker to ascertain the income, employment, financial, family and other important information regarding the buyer’s qualifications and background. While such an interview is not typical, it may be justified considering the time and expense involved in hiring a lawyer, negotiating a contract and the potential adverse change in market value should the sale be lost because of board rejection or financing contingency.

Your advisor should have a detailed succession solution in place in the event that something should unexpectedly happen. The high level of service you've come to expect should not change, and the same group of experts should continue to serve you for all of your wealth management and financial planning needs.

Your advisor should also be able to confidently state that, should something happen to him or her, the firm would continue to manage his or her own family's wealth.

In many leadership roles your ability to lead and gain buy-in to change is a highly sought-after skill, so explain how you’ve led change, secured commitment from key stakeholders and arrived at a desirable result. What was the situation and why was change needed? If you spotted the need for change and began the process then you should say so – it’s important to show how you’ve taken the lead. Then describe the steps you took to plan what needed to be done, the key people you needed to influence and involve and what aspects of the change were structural or cultural. Finally, explain what changed to demonstrate the efficacy of the process.

Your advisor should be able to explain how he or she provides you with quality service, trusted advisors, recommendations based upon your needs and transparent and timely communications.

On the surface, this seems like an easy question, but can actually trip up a number of people. Answering with “To make a difference” may certainly be true, but your answer should mention something specific that motivated you to pursue a legal career. Give a detailed and dynamic answer that is both truthful and sets you apart from others. Perhaps there was a mentor who inspired you or a job that sparked your interest – you should feel comfortable discussing why you decided to go to law school. While it is important to include details, be careful not to ramble; being articulate may separate you from other candidates.