You can't do that, that's illegal (from knucklehead lawyers, Realtors, and uneducated investors)

We are all in the game.I profit no matter what the economy is doing.I profit more when the media says the economy is in bad shape.Because fear causes people to run scared away from money that is laying around.I think it's all a matter of knowing what is going on and that these are just cycles that are always occuring and adjusting your strategy to fit.There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to buying and selling properties.Laws change ....we adaptMarkets change.... we adaptFed changes rates....we adaptBanks tighten up on their lending ....adapt More forclosures ....adaptCan anyone tell me of one market condition that hasn't existed in the past.It has all happened before and it will happen again in the future.Very few inovations in Real Estate.Just people who know how to put it together.

If you want to save money, you could by a cheap conract on the Internet, but then I would have a lawyer look it over and you are also going to want to add several clauses to protect yourself.

Alternately I could just find a lawyer (I think it is required in my state to close the deal) and have him/her draw up the contract, without an agent?

:roll: But buyers have a much stronger negotiating position in the current market conditions - and I had assumed the same applied in most of the USA now - so I would have thought that both vendors and realtors would have to be a bit more flexible, no?

In today's market conditions, how many lookers (real estate investors) would you say you have to get in front of to close a deal?

[[[[.......dead beats that need to be formally evicted, and these properties often need complete rehab, or at least major repairs and also the fact that the units are OLD, this would really factor into higher expenses for YOU....]]]]]This is just my own personal comment on the above: When I buy a place, I include the cost of bringing it up to my standards in the purchase price, not in my expenses (and that is the way Uncle Sam sees it, too).Once the property is renovated and put into my stable of rental units, it is in good condition, and the expenses, as in any other unit, are almost always tenant caused.

She sold so much stuff that even if I assigned it to him for free, the seller will still probably have to put money into the property to put it back into the condition it was when all the contracts were signed.

Use a title company or lawyer, whichever is the convention in your area.

In most states it's illegal (however, I am not a lawyer, seek competent legal advice)....however, I have heard that in my area people pay at least $1,500 referral fees, but we do have higher rents.