Buying Directly From Investor-Closing Costs

[George Smith]

Good evening,

I have found an investor which owns about 30 properties in a town that I have been looking for duplex in. He has offered seller financing but I think Id much rather tie up a good interest rate and I also believe that I wouldnt be able to refinance it a year down the road (which was his suggestion) because of the 70% LTV required by the banks. With that being said, I believe he is trying to reduce his selling costs. The question I have is with this being the first property, if he's going to just an attorney draw up the contract what are my risks by having an attorney (who owns multiple rental properties himself) handle the paperwork rather than a real estate agent? And I realize youll need a quote from the attorney, but does it generally cost less for the attorney to just draw up the contract?

Thanks for any insight.