I am about to finalize a condo in PH. Do I need a real estate attorney ? Are they helpful ? Can someone recommend a RE attorney ? How much do they charge ? Appreciate any info on this.

Unless you are paying all cash you need an attorney and even if you are paying all cash you should have an attorney. They generally run about $1200.00. I am one so I will not make the recommendation but I am sure that someone else will. If not, I can give you a few names of people that I trust.

You are probably making the largest purchase that you ever made, maybe half a million or more. Do you need an attorney, not exactly, you can have the title company represent you at closing. Will the attorney make a difference to your contract, maybe not. But at the same time $1,200 is chump change relative to the purchase price - its penny wise / pound foolish if you didn't use one. (FYI - I'm not an attorney).