Tenants-in-Common Agreement with Hesitant Co-Signers/Seller Financing

[Alexander Ignatenko]

Hello fellow investors!

I am a medical student in Denver who is planning on purchasing a househack with my girlfriend in the next few months. Because we don't have an income, we are planning to have my girlfriend's parents as co-signers for the loan. Unfortunately, they are not real estate investors themselves and are hesitant about co-signing on a ~$500,000 property (understandably so). They have come a long way after we provided them with education/benefits of house-hacking, and are more willing to help us out. They would like to create a tenants-in-common agreement in order to protect themselves from worst case scenarios. However, after speaking with a few lawyers, most of them are quoting $1500-2000 just to have the agreement drawn up, and I have heard on BP podcasts in the past that this agreement can be done for about $300-400. Does anyone know a way that this agreement can be done for about this much? 

Additionally, we have been considering finding a seller financing deal, which would not require involving her parents into the deal. My plan on action is to message several "for-rent" listings in the area and ask if they would like to sell the house with seller-financing instead. I have listened to a few podcasts on seller-financing, but I still feel under-educated about the ins and outs of having a seller-financed home. I was wondering what some of you would do in my situation and if you have any advice!

Thank you.

[Phillip Austin]

@Alexander Ignatenko I agree with @Bill B.. Getting into business with your girlfriend's parents sounds extremely risky.

With that said, if you decide to move forward, reach out to John Carver. He's a local real estate attorney in Denver that I trust and should be able to give you a reasonable price for the contract. I'm not trying to insult when I say this but, if you cannot afford the ~$1K to have the contract drafted by an attorney, you may want to reconsider your venture into REI.