OT: for sale by owner house

[Tickdoc]

Got a patient that asked if I'd be interested in buying her house after discussing how we haven't found a thing out there since moving.

I looked it up and it may be perfect. Waiting for pics to show the wife to see if she is interested. I also have a contractor friend that I can bring with me to check it out if/when we decide we like it. They would like to sell sans realtor. Never done that before. Common search says get your own real estate atty to draw up contract, get your own inspections and title search.

What else should I be considering?

Anyone done this successfully/unsuccsessfully?

[redir]

Yup all you need is a Real Estate attorney. All the realtors do is help you find a house and frankly if they didn't have a monopoly with the MLS you could find it all on your own anyway.

[cp43]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

Got a patient that asked if I'd be interested in buying her house after discussing how we haven't found a thing out there since moving.

I looked it up and it may be perfect. Waiting for pics to show the wife to see if she is interested. I also have a contractor friend that I can bring with me to check it out if/when we decide we like it. They would like to sell sans realtor. Never done that before. Common search says get your own real estate atty to draw up contract, get your own inspections and title search.

What else should I be considering?

Anyone done this successfully/unsuccsessfully?

We did half of it. We bought our house without a buyers agent. We were only casually looking, and stumbled on to a house we loved. We worked with the sellers agent directly.
We did get an inspection, and used an attorney to do the contract.

It worked out for us, because it made the agent want to make our deal work, since she got a bigger commission with us.

The realtor's job is to connect the buyer and seller. If you've already done that, you don't need an agent. But, for sure, without an agent, it's more important to get the inspection, and the attorney, etc.

Chris

[tomato coupe]

We bought our present house directly from the owner. I can't remember all the details, but we had an attorney write up the offer, and I think the bank set up the closing. It wasn't difficult, BUT we were working with a seller that was easy to get along with. (I helped him fix his tractor a week before the closing.)

[AngryScientist]

What I have learned clearly is how different real estate transactions are from state to state. Here in NJ, a realtor is more or less a completely useless parasitic load. They add zero value to the process here, but a good attorney (and paralegal!) are essential to a smooth transaction. As I understand it, that's definitely not at all true in other states, especially to the west.

Best to check for advice more regionally.

[robt57]

Solid contract with contingencies for you securing a mort, dollar amount to opt out upon your engineer or inspecting service report repairs deems required, to include radon test if in a part of world it is potentially of issue.

Your inspector/inspection should include photos of crawl/inspection and walk on roof both over and under. If water on property or drains/easements for same, or utility easyments, etc etc.

A neighbor on my block gave license for a 2" gas line that runs 4' from the side of house with bedrooms for example. I'd pass on that property baded on only that as example.

More that just this, others to add on i trust..

[mjb266]

We did it. Worked fine. The title company was actually all we needed to get it done. We had a contract we used as a template...worked fine.

So glad $40k didn't go to some agents...especially cause selling our place pushed $30k to them...

Agreed they are unnecessary.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

What I have learned clearly is how different real estate transactions are from state to state. Here in NJ, a realtor is more or less a completely useless parasitic load. They add zero value to the process here, but a good attorney (and paralegal!) are essential to a smooth transaction. As I understand it, that's definitely not at all true in other states, especially to the west.

Best to check for advice more regionally.

Yeah, in California, real estate attorneys are not required for the transaction. Realtors handle all the legal stuff and paperwork too. When we bought our house, the work before we made an offer (showing the house, preparing the offer) was probably 2% of the total work that the real estate agent did. There were lots of issues that came up during the closing process with the seller and our loan that our agent took care of with minimal involvement necessary from us. We were incredibly grateful for his services, and he definitely earned his commission.

[2LeftCleats]

We did it for our last sale. Knew the buyers and agreed on a price that was favorable to both, considering no 7% commission involved. I talked with an attorney, who gave us the boilerplate to write up the purchase agreement. His firm held the earnest money. We bargained on some of the issues the inspection raised. Owners were pleased that the appraisal came in 20k higher. Everybody left the transaction happy.

Had an experience many years ago during a garage sale prior to putting the house on the market. Someone was very interested in the house. I talked to an attorney to walk me through what needed to happen. The prospective buyer, rather than getting her own attorney, instead, found a realtor who demanded the full commission for essentially no effort. When she wouldn't agree to less, I walked. (Then I lost money on the house when it finally sold, many months later, so I'm the idiot.)

[avalonracing]

Speaking for the real estate agents on this forum I bet that I could explain how most of you also have unnecessary careers as a huge percentage of careers are technically middlemen. The key is the value that is added.

In some cases, you have a house that may be an easy sale. But does that mean that you are getting the most for it because you found your own buyer? Maybe... but probably not.

Buying a home directly from the listing agent without a good buyer's agent isn't a great plan either. You may think you are getting a deal but in the end that listing agent is just making more money for themselves while working for the seller, not you as the buyer.

Real estate agents do this every day. I sold 80 houses this year alone so I've seen a lot, know what to look for, and how to protect my clients.

And to the original poster. Yes, those are all things you want to have done. And in the event you are buying in cash make sure you make it contingent on an appraisal. Recently I spoke with someone whose late father seriously overpaid for the home he bought directly from a neighbor. Had he used an agent, he may not have paid $450K for a house that was worth $400K.

[Steve in SLO]

We just sold my moms house in Maine for $500K and did a direct transaction. We worked out details in advance (to include responsible party for each step or contingency), then each contracted a separate attorney. Our closing costs were less than $1000. Very easy for us, but get a feel for your buyer/seller before entering a contract, because I have heard others with horror stories.

[Tickdoc]

Good info and thanks for the responses. It’s a little early since I haven’t even seen the house except from the road when riding by over the years. It’s been such a terrible market for purchasing that I am just super excited at the possibilities this one holds.

I’ve lost two super cool houses due to bad timing and this crazy market, and while I am in no real hurry, I just want to have a home again.

[jlwdm]

I may be biased as a former attorney and a residential Realtor for the last 25 years. If you don’t see value in your agent you probably did not did not do a good job of selecting an agent. I have always felt my clients recognized the value of my services.

I have seen one party get screwed in most sales without agents.

I learn everything about a house before it goes active to be ready for any objections. In this market you need to prepare buyers to pay for title insurance (not normal in TX), no home warranty, no appraisal contingency, buyer to pay if a new survey is needed and so forth. This needs to be set up before an offer is made. Most importantly comps that help support a value higher than what prices have been.

In most markets today a seller is potentially giving up the most by not getting full exposure in the market. On the other hand a seller can get a higher price by making a buyer feel like they are getting a deal because they are getting to buy before others see the house.

Jeff

[rcnute]

Be mindful of the potential conflict of interest and obtain informed consent to the extent required by your applicable code of professional ethics.

Ryan

[jtakeda]

Of course check for back taxes, liens, building violations, and depending on the area/type of real estate be diligent about doing a water test if you’re drinking ground water. As long as you use a good title company and understand the market and get proper inspections you’re good