First 4-unit purchase with no realtors. Unsure what to do next

[Ben Raptoulis]

Greeting all,

I have just finished up a purchase agreement on a 4-unit fully occupied building that I will have to owner occupy because of FHA requirements (one unit is in the process of eviction.) I am in the underwriting process currently for my loan but am unsure of what steps I should take next to insure that I LEGALLY close this deal. I understand that I need to get it apraised, inspected and have all loose ends transfered to my name. Should I hire an attorney to oversee the deal? An accountant to advise me on how to legally collect my tennants rent money? Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

[Michael Noto]

@Ben Raptoulis Now that you have the property under contract, here is the process I would follow:

• email the fully executed contract to your lender so they can begin to do what they need to do to move your loan along.
• Deliver any earnest money deposit outlined in the contract to the sellers attorney/title company
• Schedule the home inspection and have the home inspection.
• Work through any issues that come up in the inspection with the seller
• Once that is settled, email the fully executed contract and disclosures to your lawyer so they can do their work title search, etc.  I recommend not getting a lawyer involved to do their title search until after you are through the inspection.  Why?  If the deal falls apart at the inspection phase and the lawyer has done title work, etc they will require you to pay for that.  Make sure the deal is going to advance first
• If their is a 2nd earnest money deposit deliver it
• From there, anything that is requested from your lender or lawyer from you, make sure you get them what they need right away.  It can cause delays if you don't.
• A big part of what a realtor does is make sure that their clients stay on top of dates and terms outlined in the contract. You will obviously have to do this yourself.  A standard part of a purchase & sale contract here in Connecticut where I am a licensed realtor is a mortgage commitment date.  As you get closer to that date and if it doesn't look like your lender will have a formal commitment letter for you, make sure you are on top of requesting a commitment date extension from the seller.
• Once you get past the commitment letter part, just sit tight and wait for your clear to close.  Once that happens it is just a matter of the two sides finding a convenient date and time to close.  If that date and time ends up being after the proposed closing date outlined on the contract, again you want to make sure to request an extension from the sellers. This can be done through your attorney or you working directly with the seller

Best of luck and I know this seems like a lot, but if you have a lender and lawyer that know what they are doing and a reasonable seller the process has more of a chance to go smoother.