Buying without an agent

[Chris Shuptar]

I want to buy my neighbor's house. They just had their first kid and they have already bought another house. They considered renting their current house, but I'm trying to convince them to sell it to me. Luckily, they were very open to the idea. But they said they'd only want to sell it if we leave the agents out of it. Totally fine by me. We live in a very desirable area and I know their house is immaculate and freshly remodeled (I helped them do some of the work). I've never purchased a house without an agent before... so I am just curious about the process. I'm sure it's been talked about a million times on BP but I can't find any good threads. So here are my questions: 1. How do you buy without an agent? 2. Would I need my attorney to get involved? 3. Is there anything I should be aware of? 4. Are there any oddball rules and regulations that I should consider when doing my typical rental property analysis?