Waymark HR Group
Guiding your business forward.
Now hiring · Buffalo, New York

Real Estate
Paralegal

An established Western New York law firm. Residential and commercial real estate closings.

This firm handles real estate transactions from contract to closing, and they need someone who can own a file the whole way through: purchase and sale, title, and the bank side of the closing.

Two to five years of real estate experience is the standard they are screening for. If you have less than that but can speak in real depth about the transactions you have worked on, they will still take the call. If that sounds like you, keep reading.

Start your application
About five minutes. Your resume is all you need, and there is no cover letter.
$60,000–$80,000
Base salary range
Location
Buffalo, NY. On-site, Monday to Friday.
Experience
Two to five years in real estate transactions preferred. One to two years considered if you can speak in depth about the work.
Degree or certificate
Preferred, not required.
Health & dental
Fully paid by the firm, for you and your spouse.
Paid time off
15 days in year one, unlimited after that.
Worth knowing up front

A few honest details about this seat

We would rather share these now than have anything come as a surprise later.

01

On-site, five days a week

The work involves closings, original documents, and disbursing funds, so it takes place in the office. There is no hybrid or remote arrangement for this role. Travel is light and mostly local, for the occasional closing at another firm.

02

A small firm of about thirteen people

You would work closely with everyone here, and your contribution would be visible across the whole office. For a lot of people that is the appeal. It is simply worth knowing before you apply.

03

No notary or real estate license required

It genuinely helps if you already have one, and it will move your resume up the stack. But it is not a requirement to be considered for this seat.

If that still sounds like a good fit, here is what the work itself looks like.

The work

What is actually on the desk

Purchase and sale

Drafting and reviewing purchase agreements, deeds, mortgages, and closing documents, and coordinating communication and paperwork among clients, lenders, agents, and title companies from contract through post-closing.

Title and closing

Reviewing title commitments, resolving title defects, and obtaining title insurance. At the closing table, that means preparing and reviewing closing statements, coordinating document execution, and disbursing funds.

The bank side

Drafting and reviewing loan packages, HUD-1s, and Closing Disclosures. Preparing preliminary closing disclosures for lenders, providing accurate title and recording fees, and balancing wires.

The travel

Local and light. This is mostly an office-based seat, with the occasional closing at another firm’s office when the deal calls for it.

What matters most

Three qualities, named by the firm

When we asked what makes someone successful in this seat, these are the three things that came back.

Real transaction experience, not just exposure.
Two to five years handling real estate transactions is the standard here. If you have less than that, you can still be seen, but you would need to speak in real depth about deals you have actually worked, start to close.
Bank-side or closing experience is a strong plus.
Loan packages, HUD-1s, Closing Disclosures, or lender-side closing work. It is not a hard requirement, but it moves a resume up the stack.
You do your best work in a small, in-person office.
This is a close-knit, hands-on team that works side by side, not a firm built around remote or hybrid schedules. If that is the kind of place where you thrive, that matters as much as the resume.

A paralegal certificate, a notary commission, or a real estate license are all appreciated if you have them, but none of them are required to apply.

And here is what is not on that list.

A paralegal certificate, an associate’s degree, a Notary commission, or a particular number of years. None of these are required for this role, and none of them factor into how applications are reviewed.

That is worth pausing on for a moment. Most paralegal openings in Erie County ask for a degree, or a certificate plus a year of experience, or five years in the role, often with a civil service examination on top of it. New York State itself has no licensing requirement for paralegals at all. This firm has chosen to hire on capability instead. If your experience has been passed over on paper before, this is a genuinely rare opening where it will not be.

The compensation picture

Where this sits in the Buffalo market

Rather than simply posting a number, here is the full local picture, so you can see exactly where this range falls.

THIS ROLE · $60,000 TO $80,000 BUFFALO MEDIAN $58,270 10th · $45,730 75th · $65,640 90th · $81,050

Wage distribution for Paralegals and Legal Assistants (SOC 23-2011) in the Buffalo–Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area, covering Erie and Niagara counties. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Reported employment 2,060. Published annual percentiles: 10th $45,730, 25th $47,130, median $58,270, 75th $65,640, 90th $81,050. Curve is an illustrative distribution fitted to those published percentiles.

The posted range begins just above the local median and extends up near the 90th percentile. Where an offer lands within it reflects the depth of transaction experience you bring, not simply the years on your resume. Someone who can speak in real detail about deals they have carried, start to close, will land well inside this range regardless of exact tenure.

Health and dental, fully covered
Paid in full by the firm, for you and for your spouse. Not a share of the premium and not a high deductible plan after a waiting period.
15 days off in year one, unlimited after
Fifteen paid days to begin with, and the policy moves to unlimited paid time off once you pass one year with the firm.
Simple IRA with a 3% match
An employer match of 3%, available to you after one year of service.
A formal review at 90 days
A structured conversation at the three month mark about how things are going on both sides, rather than waiting for an annual cycle to talk.
Who is running this search
Jamie Wahler, Founder of Waymark HR Group
Jamie Wahler
Founder, Waymark HR Group LLC · SHRM-Certified · Western New York

Thank you for reading this far. This search is mine, which means the person who reads your application and the person who calls you are the same person, and you will always know who you are talking to.

I have watched enough good people send a resume into a job board and never hear a single word back. That is not how this search runs, and it is worth saying plainly before you spend five minutes on the form.

Jamie Wahler
You will hear back
Every person who applies gets an answer from us, and after each stage of the process it comes within 48 to 72 hours.
You will know where you stand
If the firm decides to go a different direction, we tell you that, and we tell you the reason behind it.
Your resume stays with this search
It goes to this firm for this role. It is not circulated to a list of employers or sold on to anyone.
What happens next

Five steps, and you know all five now

  1. You apply on this page
    About five minutes. Your resume, a few details, and one short question.
  2. A conversation with Waymark
    Scheduled around your working hours. This is where we learn about what you have actually done, so the firm sees a fuller picture than a resume can give.
  3. Your introduction to the firm
    Your resume goes over with our written assessment alongside it, and the firm comes back with interview times.
  4. A phone conversation with the firm’s Director of Operations
    A chance to talk through the seat, the work, and how you approach a real transaction.
  5. One on-site interview, then a decision
    A single round with the attorneys, deliberately, so you are not asked to come back several separate times.
You hear back after every stage within
48 to 72 hours
Offer, once you have completed the process
Within one to two weeks
Apply

Apply for this role

A short form, and every answer here is read by a person.

PDF or Word. If your resume is not completely up to date, please send it along anyway. We would rather hear from you sooner.
This role is on-site five days a week at the firm’s Buffalo area office. Are you able to work on-site full time, either because you are local now or because you would have relocated before your start date?
Are you legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer, without visa sponsorship now or in the future?
Annual base salary, in dollars. This is a starting point for the conversation, not a commitment.
This is the part we spend the most time with, so please take a few minutes on it. There is no length requirement and no particular format we are looking for. We are simply interested in how much depth you can speak to.
You will receive a confirmation email shortly, and we will follow up with you either way.