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First-Time Chicago Homebuyer: Attorney Review, Explained

The five business days that can save you thousands, if you know they exist and act in time.

By Lincoln Square Law · 8-minute read

First-time buyers in the Chicago area are often surprised to learn that the contract they just signed is not quite final. For a short period after the offer is accepted, usually five business days under the residential contract forms commonly used here, each side’s attorney can review the contract and propose changes, and either side can walk away if they cannot agree. That window is called attorney review. It is the moment when a buyer has the most leverage and the least time, and knowing what to do with it can be worth thousands of dollars.

What attorney review is

Attorney review is a contract term, not a statute. The standard residential contract used across the Chicago area includes a provision that allows the buyer’s and seller’s attorneys to review the contract within a set number of business days after acceptance and to propose modifications. If the parties cannot agree on the proposed changes, either side can terminate by written notice, and the buyer’s earnest money is returned. If no one gives notice within the period, the attorney review provision is typically treated as waived and the contract stands as written.

Three details trip up first-time buyers. First, the days are usually business days, so weekends and holidays do not count, but the clock still starts quickly. Second, the notice has to be in writing and delivered the way the contract requires, which is why attorneys handle it rather than agents. Third, attorney review is not the same as the inspection period. The two often run at the same time, but they are separate rights with separate deadlines and separate purposes.

Why it exists

Offers in a busy market are often written quickly, on a standard form, by agents who are not lawyers. Attorney review gives each side a chance to have a lawyer read the whole document, fix terms that do not fit the deal, and add terms the form leaves out, before the parties are locked in. For buyers, it is also a chance to understand obligations that are easy to overlook in the excitement of an accepted offer: financing deadlines, what happens to the earnest money, who pays which costs, and what the seller is and is not promising.

What can get fixed in this window

• Financing terms. The mortgage contingency should match the loan you are actually getting, including the loan type, amount, rate assumptions, and a realistic commitment date.
• Closing date and possession. Align the closing date with your lender’s timeline and your lease, and address any seller request to stay after closing with a written possession agreement.
• Personal property and fixtures. Confirm which appliances, window treatments, light fixtures, and other items stay.
• Taxes and prorations. In Cook County, property taxes are billed a year in arrears. The contract’s proration language determines how much credit you receive from the seller at closing, and it should be clear.
• Inspection results. If the inspection is complete, repair requests and credits are usually negotiated during the same window.
• Condominium issues. For a condo, the association documents the seller must make available (765 ILCS 605/22.1) often raise questions about reserves, special assessments, leasing rules, or litigation that should be addressed before review ends.
• Disclosures. Confirm you received the seller’s disclosure report. If it arrives after signing and discloses a material defect, you have five business days after receipt to terminate (765 ILCS 77/40).

The three first-timer mistakes

Waiting to hire an attorney. Some buyers look for a lawyer after the offer is accepted, which can consume two or three of the five days. Have an attorney lined up before you make offers, so the contract can go to them the moment it is accepted.

Treating review as a formality. Letting the period pass without comment is itself a decision. It accepts every term as written, including terms that may not match your financing or your plans.

Assuming the agent can handle it. Agents play an essential role in the transaction, but modifications and termination notices are legal documents with deadlines and consequences. They should come from counsel, in the form the contract requires.

How a typical review unfolds

On day one, the attorney reads the full contract, checks the dates, and asks the buyer about financing, closing and possession plans, and any concerns about the property. Once the inspection report arrives, the attorney separates issues worth negotiating from cosmetic findings. The attorney then sends a written proposal to the seller’s attorney: modifications to the contract, repair requests or credits, and clarifications. The seller’s attorney responds, sometimes with a counterproposal, and the two sides work toward agreement. Before the deadline, the parties either sign off on agreed modifications, extend the review period in writing, or one side terminates.

Extensions are common when the inspection report is late or negotiations are close to agreement. An extension should always be written and agreed by both attorneys. A verbal “take a few more days” does not change the contract.

Questions to ask yourself before review ends

A lawyer can read the contract, but only the buyer knows whether it fits the buyer’s life. Before the window closes, it helps to answer a few questions honestly. Does the closing date work with your lease, your move, and your lender’s timeline? Are you comfortable with the cash you will need at closing, including the down payment, closing costs, and reserves your lender requires? Do the inspection findings change what you are willing to pay, or only what you want repaired? For a condominium, are you comfortable with the assessments, the reserves, and the rules, including any limits on renting the unit later? If any answer is uncertain, raise it with your attorney now. After review ends, the same concern becomes much harder to act on.

What happens if the parties do not agree

If the buyer and seller cannot reach agreement on proposed modifications, either can terminate within the review period. The contract is then void and the earnest money is returned to the buyer. That outcome is disappointing, but it is not a failure of the process. Sometimes the right result of attorney review is to learn, before you are bound, that the deal does not work.

A termination during attorney review should be clean. The notice should be delivered to the right people by the contract’s method, and the parties should sign a cancellation agreement that directs the escrowee to return the earnest money, so the deposit is not left in limbo.

Once review ends, the leverage changes. The buyer is then protected only by the remaining contingencies, such as financing, and walking away without a contractual right can put the earnest money at risk.

What sellers should know too

Attorney review protects sellers as well. A seller can propose modifications, clarify possession or repair terms, and address issues such as a buyer’s financing assumptions. A seller who receives a long list of repair requests is not obligated to agree, and can counter or decline. The goal on both sides is a contract that accurately reflects the deal before the parties are bound to it.

What we do in those five days

• Read the full contract and calendar every deadline, including the end of attorney review, inspection, and mortgage commitment.
• Review the seller’s disclosures, the inspection report, and, for condominiums, the association documents.
• Prepare and negotiate written modifications, repair requests, and credits.
• Coordinate with your lender so the contract matches your loan.
• Send any extension or termination notice in the form the contract requires, before the deadline.

For a first-time buyer, attorney review is the one point in the transaction where a few days of focused work can reshape the whole deal. Using it well starts with having counsel ready before the offer is accepted.