Buying and selling a property without a Realtor?

Question

I had a seller contact me, knowing that I buy rental houses. It's in an area I know well, and can probably work a deal that will work for both of us.

How do we go about finalizing the transaction when we're done negotiating?

What's step 1-6?  Who should I contact?  My experience has been going through Realtors, but in this situation, saving both parties the marketing expenses is key to make the deal work.

Thanks for any insight!

Leigh C · Answer

find a realtor/lawyer to do it for a flat fee.    If you can't answer the questions for yourself its more than likely not a cost effective time to try and figure it out.

Samuel DeMass · Answer

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen.

@Leigh C  Thanks for the reply.  I was under the assumption that an attorney/title company could probably execute the transaction for us.  I think it is probably worth our time to track it down.

@Jerry W.  That's great insight.  I can hunt down that trail.  I appreciate it.

@Ned Carey  Great point.  The seller is someone that I know, looking to move out of the area and came to me first looking to get out of the house quickly.  I believe we can work out minor issues and work out the details as we go.

Ned Carey · Answer

If you have done deals before i would think you would have enough experience to do it without an agent. If you and the seller are in agreement then you don't have to have the perfect contract. If something pops up then you just deal with it then.  the title company will take care of most of the details.

However if you haven't done enough deals to feel comfortable with the process then @Leigh C 's idea makes a lot of sense.

Jerry W. · Answer

In some states title companies do the closing.  I am an attorney but but have a title company do the closing so I use their trust accounts and to be honest they can do it for a third of what I charge.  This may not be true in all states but call and see.  You can get a blank realtors form online from your state realtors association and use that if you do not have a simple buy sell agreement.  Make sure you cover things like title insurance, pro ration of taxes and rent, as well as the price and terms.  Your local bank can often help you out as well.  Good luck.

Buying and selling a property without a Realtor?

Most Popular Reply