Chicago Real Estate Closings
You don’t pay us until you close.
Full-service closing representation for buyers, sellers, and investors across Chicago. No retainer, no deposit, no legal fee unless your deal closes.
Most firms bill you whether or not you get the house.
Deals fall apart. The inspection comes back wrong, the appraisal misses, financing gets pulled two weeks in. When that happens, most attorneys still send the invoice — and the flat fee you were quoted is due whether or not you ever got the keys.
We work differently. Our fee comes out of the closing itself. Nothing due when you hire us, nothing due while we work, and nothing due at all if the transaction doesn’t close. If this one falls through, you walk into the next one without having paid twice.
That’s not a promotion. It’s how we’ve always billed, because we’d rather be paid for getting you to the table than for trying.
From contract to keys, handled.
Contract drafting and review.
We read every line before you’re bound by it, and negotiate the terms that matter during attorney review.
Title ordering and review.
We pull the commitment and clear what’s on it — liens, judgments, old mortgages that were never released.
Survey.
If you’re selling, we order it — it’s your obligation under the contract, at your expense, and it’s due at least one business day before closing. If you’re buying, we read it, because encroachments surface late and kill closings. Condominiums don’t require one.
Payoff coordination.
For sellers, we request and reconcile every payoff so nothing holds up your proceeds.
Closing document preparation.
Deeds, transfer declarations, affidavits — drafted and reviewed before you sit down.
Municipal requirements.
City of Chicago transfer stamps, water certifications, zoning and inspection requirements handled ahead of the date.
Scheduling and closing day.
We coordinate with the lender, title company, and the other side, and we’re with you at the table.
Your questions, all of them.
Unlimited calls and texts throughout. There is no meter running.
What it costs.
Flat fees, published. You’ll know the number before you hire us, and it comes out of closing.
*What isn't in that number.
Third-party costs are paid to third parties, not to us, and they’re the same no matter which attorney you hire: title charges and lender’s policy, survey, recording fees, municipal transfer stamps, and your lender’s own fees. We estimate all of them for you in writing before you’re committed to anything.
Who we do this for.
Most of our clients are meeting their first real estate attorney. First-time buyers in Auburn Gresham, Chatham and Garfield Ridge. Owners selling the family house without an agent. Investors closing on their second or third property and starting to think in portfolios. Buyers living abroad who need this to work across a time zone — and who can close remotely with us without ever flying in.
Johnetta Paye is one of a small number of Black real estate attorneys practicing at this level in Chicago, an attorney title agent for Chicago Title and Fidelity National Title, and her work in real estate crowdfunding has been covered by Forbes. She built this practice around the transactions and the neighborhoods other firms don’t bother to learn.
When the deal is done, we’re still here. The same firm forms the LLC for the next purchase, reviews the lease when you rent it out, and protects the name when you build something on top of it.
If you’re the agent on this deal.
You need an attorney who doesn’t make you look bad. Ours is a simple promise: your contract is acknowledged the same business day it arrives, attorney review is turned around within 24 hours, and you have a direct line to the attorney handling the file — not a general inbox.
We close in the city and the collar counties, we’re comfortable with FSBO and investor files, and we’ll keep you copied on everything so you’re never the last to know..
Referring agent
“As a real estate professional, I have had the pleasure of utilizing J. Paye & Associates’ services for several years across multiple real estate transactions… J. Paye & Associates ALWAYS gets you to the table, providing exceptional legal representation and guidance throughout the process.”
Tanessa L. — real estate professional
Questions we get every week.
Do I need a real estate attorney to buy a home in Illinois?
Yes. Illinois is an attorney state — a jurisdiction where state law or court rulings require a licensed attorney to oversee or conduct real estate closings.
Under Illinois Supreme Court precedent, a real estate broker may fill in the blanks on a standard preprinted contract form, because that is incidental to brokerage. But preparing the deed and the other instruments that clear and transfer title is the practice of law, and only a licensed attorney may do it.
That is why essentially every closing in Chicagoland has attorneys on both sides, and why the standard contract builds in an attorney review period. It is not a formality. It is how the transfer actually gets done.
Client review
“The home buying process has many moving parts and I was intimidated by all the different twist and turns of the process but Attorney Paye calmed my fears and assured me that we would walk through it together… Don’t even try to buy a home without an Attorney and J. Paye is an excellent choice.”
Reggie D. — buyer, Auburn Gresham
When should I contact you?
Before you sign if you can, and immediately after if you already have. Under the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0, your attorney has five Business Days after the Date of Acceptance to approve the contract, disapprove it, or propose modifications. Business Days are Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays — so a contract accepted on a Friday before a holiday weekend can leave you less working time than it sounds like.
When does the attorney review clock actually start?
The clock starts on the Date of Acceptance — when the last party accepts — not when you first signed and sent it. That distinction costs people days.
What can actually happen during attorney review?
Three things. Your attorney can approve the contract, disapprove it (on anything except the price alone), or propose modifications. A proposed modification is treated as a counteroffer, even if it says it isn’t — which is why it matters who drafts it. And if the parties haven’t reached written agreement on all proposed modifications within ten Business Days of the Date of Acceptance, either side can terminate the contract by notice. That outer deadline surprises people.
What does “no legal fees until closing” actually mean?
There’s no retainer and no deposit. Our flat fee appears on the settlement statement and is paid out of closing. If your transaction doesn’t close, you owe us no legal fee. Third-party costs already incurred, like a survey or title search, are still owed to those vendors.
Do you handle For Sale By Owner transactions?
Yes, and it’s a large part of what we do. Without an agent there’s no one drafting the contract, so we do that too — which makes having an attorney involved early more important, not less.
I’m buying through an LLC. Can you handle that?
Yes. We close entity purchases regularly, and if the entity doesn’t exist yet we can form it before closing so title vests correctly the first time.
I’m out of the country. Can I still close?
Yes — and we can do the notarization ourselves. As a registered title service attorney agent for Fidelity National Title, we provide remote online notarization directly instead of sending you to go find it. Under Illinois law the electronic notary has to be physically in Illinois; you don’t. You can sign from anywhere, including outside the United States, often the same day.
Where remote notarization isn’t the right fit — some lenders still won’t take it on a financed purchase — the alternatives are a notarization at a U.S. consulate or a power of attorney naming someone to sign here. We’ll tell you which route your lender and title company will accept before you make travel plans, and no, you almost certainly don’t need an apostille.
Client review
“Johnetta was amazing, she handled every detail and was accessible to answer all my questions which involved my real estate transaction involving 2 states 1700 miles apart. What I thought would be an 8 aspirin headache turned out to be a very smooth seamless experience.”
Robert S. — seller, Garfield Ridge · closed from out of state
What will I owe besides your fee?
Title charges, survey, recording fees, municipal transfer stamps, and your lender’s fees. None of those are paid to us.
Send us the contract. We’ll take it from there.
Email or text us your purchase agreement and we’ll confirm receipt the same business day, walk you through what happens next, and start work. You won’t be asked for a payment to begin.