Closing cost in Florida

[Andre Fierro]

Hey guys quick question if I was to purchase a property in Florida through the owner/seller directly would I avoid closing cost? Obviously would get a lawyer etc.

[Account Closed]

@Andre Fierro to clarify - in most states it is customary/tradition for the seller to pay a real estate agent to list and help them sell their property and to split their commission with any buyer's agent that represents the end buyer.  If a buyer doesn't have an agent then the seller's agent can keep the entire amount (with his broker who he works under).  Buyers traditionally don't have to pay a commission at all when the property is listed with an agency, so there's no downside to having one represent you.  That being said, with regards to an attorney v. agent to help you with the sales contract, it really depends on how comfortable you are with your own negotiations and how experienced your agent is.  Agents are NOT allowed to practice law in any way, but in Ohio they are allowed to help with a "standard" preprinted fill-in-the-blanks real estate contract form that is published by a recognized agency like the Ohio bar or the Ohio Realtor's association.  These forms cover all the usual issues that come up and can be edited and initialed and still be valid.  However, that is as far as agents are allowed to go.  They cannot help you write up a custom contract or give you any advice with regards to it.  That is practicing law and illegal and therefore that is when you should have your own attorney review and/or create one for you. 

The easiest thing to do with regards to the agent dilemma is to have the agent you are considering using flat out ask the seller's agent if they will split commission and specifically what percentage or dollar amount it will be.  Then you can actually have that spelled out in the contract if needed if the agents don't already have their own legal agreement.  If one of your sellers is actually an agent like you stated then he's not going to charge a commission to himself - that would be dumb, so your agent would then just need to verify with him that his brokerage will pay her a commission.  If he says no, then I recommend that you definitely pay an attorney to help you along (but I'm not a lawyer so don't construe that as legal advice - just personal).  Or you can pay your agent a commission, but that's then another addition to your closing costs.  And by the way, the discount points that you don't know about - you need to learn about those quickly - one point is 1% of your loan, paid at closing usually, and you didn't mention how many points it was.  That fee can get big really quickly depending on how large your loan is.  Each point that you pay for lowers your interest rate by 1/8% for the loan.  You may be able to negotiate that and remember to shop around for lenders.