Illinois Bar Journal  The Magazine of Illinois Lawyers  June
2011Volume 99Number 6Page 290  June 2011 Illinois Bar Journal
Cover Image  Real Estate Law  How to Be a Good Closer
Helen W. Gunnarsson  In baseball and residential real estate
practice alike, it often comes down to the last inning when a
lights-out closer can make the difference. Here are tips from
veteran lawyers about what you might encounter at a real estate
closing and how to handle it.  The darndest issues can threaten
to derail a residential real estate closing.  Naperville lawyer
Richard Kuhn remembers a suburban closing around 25 years ago in
which his clients, the buyers, were from England. "They were
very formal people. Everybody had their best Sunday-go-to-
meeting attire on."  A relatively new lawyer at the time, Kuhn
felt that everyone in the room was watching him as he explained
the documents to his clients. "About halfway through the closing
there was a break. My clients said, 'We need to bring up an
embarrassing question.' I asked t