I was hoping somebody here could give me a little direction on how to go about selling my house to the person currently renting it. This seems like such a basic question, but all the websites I've read online so far give me different tidbits of information here and there, but I'm looking for a little bit more clear step by step process on how this will go down.
For a little backstory,
here is my post from last year about my adventures in trying to sell this house. After all that shenanigans, I ended up renting out my house to a lady who's been great, takes care of the place, pays rent on time every month, and there haven't been any major issues up to this point, so I'm really thankful for that. The lease is set to expire at the end of August, and the last time we talked, she expressed interest in purchasing the home. Great! I can finally get this place off my back, and I don't have to pay realtor fees to boot. The downside of the 'no realtor fee' is that we don't have anybody to guide us through this process and neither of us are very experienced in the world of realty, but I'm confident I can figure this out between all the different resources out there.
I'm guessing a lot of you are going to tell me to just hire a RE attorney, and that's fine. I'd just like a little better idea of what the process will be going into this, and also when a Title Company needs to get involved. Does anybody have a good site or resource they could share? BTW I am in SW Michigan. So let's say the buyer and I have agreed upon on price, I guess I'd have a purchase agreement drafted by my RE attorney, execute, buyer submits to her financial institution for review(and title company with earnest money deposit?), then inspections, appraisal, underwriting. If that's all acceptable, we close at title company. At what point does the Title Company become involved, is that when the purchase agreement is signed or a little later? I know they provide title insurance, searches, closing etc. Is there currently any precedent for who chooses the title company, and who pays closing costs (Maybe whoever chooses is who pays?) Any advice on choosing a title company? One last question, is there anything else I need to take into consideration with regards to selling the house to someone who is currently occupying it?
I'd like to make this transaction proceed as smoothly as possible, and also advise the buyer in any way necessary (perhaps she should have her own RE attorney as well). Any advice or guidance on the questions I raised here would be greatly appreciated, thank you!