Hi-

I own a condominium 50-50 with a friend of mine. He wants to buy a house on his own and sell me his half of the unit so we can take his name off the current Mortgage.

1- I applied with our original Lender to "buy him out" and they proceeded with a refinance for me to pay the full mortgage under my name with a better rate etc. I can financially afford the new mortgage and condo fees and taxes. My lender told me that all I have to do is have my friend sign a Quit Claim Deed for him to resign of any interest in the property. That's it.
Between my friend and I we were going to agree on a price and share expenses for the portion of municipal taxes etc.

2- We consulted with our real estate attorney who helped us originally but I feel he is confused or making things to complicated for what it is. He is saying that this is a sale and that we should have a contract with a closing etc. Just a lot of additional fees, I feel, for something simple...

What is your opinion ?

My opinion is that you have made a pretty fair assessment of the lawyers motivation.