What People Actually Ask a Real Estate Law Firm: 199 Calls, Ranked

Between June 22 and August 27, 2026, 199 calls came into our Connecticut offices. We read the transcript of every one.

We wanted to know whether the questions we answer on this website are the questions people actually have. The short answer: not quite. Plenty of calls are scheduling and status updates on active files. Set those aside, and the new questions sorted into six groups, plus one group we'll get to at the end. Here they are, ranked by how many people asked.

1. Changing a deed without selling anything: 12 callers

The single biggest group of new questions wasn't about buying or selling a house. It was about the deed itself: adding a spouse after a marriage, taking a name off after a death or a divorce, moving a property into a trust. Nobody in this group was closing on anything. They just needed the land records to say the right thing.

One mix-up came up on these calls more than once, so it's worth stating plainly: the deed and the mortgage are two different documents. Changing whose name is on the deed does not change whose name is on the loan. The lender's note stays with the people who signed it until it's paid off or refinanced, whatever the deed says.

If this is your situation, our deed transfers page walks through the common ones, including what happens when an owner has died.

2. Contract and closing-date questions: 6 callers

Can I terminate inside my inspection contingency? Is the closing date in my contract binding? These are the highest-stakes questions in the set, and the honest answer to each one is: it depends on the language in your contract. That isn't a dodge. Two Connecticut purchase contracts can treat the same deadline very differently.

It's also why we review a draft purchase and sale agreement at no charge, before you sign it. The time to find out what your contract says about walking away is before your name is on it.

3. Closing mechanics: 5 callers

What does a title search actually cover? Can I sign if I'm out of state? Can someone sign for me?

On the out-of-state question: yes, we can arrange a mobile signing, where a signing professional comes to you. Buyers still sign original documents in ink, but needing to sign is not by itself a reason to travel to Connecticut. A power of attorney may be possible when a buyer can't sign at all, though that requires the lender's approval.

On the title search: it's ordered early in the transaction, not on closing day, and it looks for liens, unreleased mortgages, easements, and gaps in the chain of ownership. Here's the full picture.

4. What the seller owes at closing: 3 callers

Mostly the conveyance tax: Connecticut's state tax is tiered by sale price, and every town charges its own municipal tax on top. The rates are public, and we built a conveyance tax calculator so you can run your own number instead of guessing.

5. Probate and estate sales: 3 callers

A house that's partly owned by an estate. A sale that can't move until probate does. These calls are fact-specific in a way a blog post can't resolve, but the general shape is consistent: probate adds steps, and those steps take time, so the earlier an attorney sees the file, the fewer surprises the timeline holds. We wrote about selling an inherited house in Connecticut if you want the longer version.

6. A tenant comes with the house: 2 callers

Two buyers asked what happens when the property they're buying has a tenant in it. The answer turns on the lease and the specifics of the deal, so this is one to bring to an attorney with the lease in hand rather than settle from a general article.

And the 14 callers we couldn't help

One more group deserves a mention: 14 callers asked about things we don't handle. Evictions, HOA disputes, business purchases, construction defects. We're a real estate transactions firm, so these aren't matters we take, and when that's the case we say so on the first call rather than letting you wait a week to find out.

Why we're publishing this

Most law firm websites answer the questions the firm finds interesting. We'd rather answer the ones people actually call about. This list is now part of how we decide what to write, what to put in our FAQ, and what our team prepares for when the phone rings.

If your question is on this list, or isn't, the fastest way to an answer is to ask. The consultation is free.