Contract for Deed - Montana (buyer's agent, commission, contracts, Realtor)

[hymnsinger]

I have found a place that is perfect for me, a run down dilapidated house (1912) with 4 outbuildings, on 90 dry acres in south central Montana. It is over an hour outside of any town or city limits. It's listed with a realtor in Billings and I have sent a contact form to him stating my interest. It's listed for $140,000, appraised at $70,000. I have yet to have heard back and it's been 3 days.

I would very much like to approach the seller with an offer for C for Deed. Is there any way to do this with the Realtor's blessing, or is the Realtor going to fight it because of the loss of commission?

Like many people nowadays (since the "crash"), there's no way I can bank finance the place or even put a realistic (bankers) amount down. The market in that area is great for small ranchettes and estates, but not so good for ranchland like this place. I'm seeing listings like this one that have been on the market for over 2 years.

What is the best way to bring this up? Should I keep trying the Realtor, or just go ahead and call the owner directly? I hate doing an end run around the Realtor, since that contract is his bread and butter.

How can I handle this and keep everyone happy?

Thanks for you professional input!!

Tracey

[Electrician4you]

Make a written offer to the realtor. He has to give it to the owner. If you don't hear back contact the owner to see if your offer was presented. You can always talk to the agent and let the agent do a double end deal where he keeps all the commission.

If you don't care go straight to the owner.

[gv28]

There may not be a great solution for you, but here’s some input.

Owner financing, i.e. a purchase money mortgage, would be safer for you than a land contract.

There is no reason an agent can’t help you do a deal with either owner financing or contract for deed, although more difficult if you are trying to work with no down payment.
And if you are trying to work with no down payment, it’s not likely the owner would be interested in giving you a deal.


Try to get the agent once more time, call him, if no contact immediately, then go ahead and contact the Seller. The Seller will wake up the agent.
Or you may want to skip that, and pick a different agent from another listing, and ask that agent to help you.


Is your source of the “appraisal” reliable?
Is it an assessed value?
Is it a value from Zillow?
More than likely it is not something you should give much credence.

If you are seeing this listing on Zillow or similar, are you certain it is still available?
Could that be the reason the agent is not responding to you?

.

[jackmichigan]

Feel free to contact the Seller directly. That's not cutting out the agent since, in all probability, a commission would still be owed to the Listing Broker should the Seller sell the property to you.

If you do proceed in trying to get some type of seller financing, however, you need to do all of the typical due diligence--and then some--as if you were buying in a normal bank-financed or cash transaction. You should also get an experienced real estate attorney to make sure that everything is done correctly. Far too many people enter into owner-financed contracts and live to regret it. Don't be one of them.

Of course, if you don't have enough money for a suitable down payment, you probably don't have to worry about any of this.

EDIT: I'll add that you might as well find a good buyer's agent to help you evaluate the property. Since you're apparently from North Carolina (given your heading location), you're likely unfamiliar with local property values--and other key issues. Is there a good water well on the property?