Do-it-yourself closings for vacant land

[Kyle Conrad]

Hi all - 

Wondering if anyone has any experience closing their own cash deal without an attorney. I've come across a couple of vacant land parcels that the owner is essentially willing to give away. In this case, the closing fees would actually cost MORE than the title purchase price from the current landowner. 

Does anyone have experience doing their own closings with vacant land?

[Jason Pachomski]

Kyle,

I've closed a couple of raw land deals "in-house" (meaning without a title company or attorney). I too just don't see the sense in spending (for example) $1000 on title search / insurance for a piece of land I'm buying for $500. Reason being -- and someone please correct me if I'm wrong -- title insurance only covers the amount you paid for the property, not the value of it. In that light it doesn't really make sense to pay $1000 to protect your $500 investment. 

That being said, while I've closed without title insurance, I would NEVER close on a property without a title search. The good thing is you can farm that out to a company like AFX Research (no, I'm not affiliated but I have used them) and for around $150 you can get a title search done. One of the many things I like about raw land is that in most cases the seller owns it free and clear. I've also found in a lot of cases that the property has been in the family for decades, especially in rural areas. This significantly minimizes the chain of title.

Yes, when doing your own closing there's always going to be the risk that some long buried problem could pop up. That's why I only do in-house closings on parcels that paying for title insurance doesn't make sense on. Just make sure you're using the correct documents for your state / county, get everything notarized and recorded, and you should be fine.

Obligatory yet annoying disclaimer: I'm not an attorney and this post is definitely not legal advice.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes.