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Buying a house from a friend. We know a lawyer who will do the title search and the closing and I doubt she is a crook and would allow anything as far as documents (crossing the t's and dotting the i"s) that would in any way be harmful or risky to the buyer. The seller has sold over a dozen properties so they have a general idea on prices and a price has been negotiated. The normal (?) steps are locate a property, title search, agree on price, buyer inspection, seller disclosers, appraisal, closing. Our lender will do the appraisal, and the buyer would pay for the inspection and request the seller to supply seller disclosure documents. So why is a buyer's agent needed? It may be that no agent is needed for buyer or seller. Why or why not? Thanks.
If you have settled on a house and a price, have a lawyer who can do the contract, and there's no further decisions that have to be made, you probably don't need an agent.
In our state the title search and escrow functions would be done by a title company. If there is going to be a loan or a large money transfer, I would still do that.
If you've found the house and have negotiated the price, provided that you're satisfied with the price, there is no need for an agent--for either side. Have the lawyer do the closing or, if title companies handle closings in your area, simply have a title company handle the closing. Just make sure that the terms of the contract are fair. A contract subsequently perceived as being one-sided could strain a friendship.
It doesn't sound like you need an agent. Not everyone needs one, nor do all transactions need one. Just make sure you have the proper disclosures for your state and follow any rules regarding the transfer of the property (like smoke detectors, etc)
It will be a conventional loan as far as title insurance, etc. One local agent serves as a dual for 5% and another for 4% so whether the seller desires no agents, or one or two or a dual that should not be a deal breaker as far as we are concerned.
It will be a conventional loan as far as title insurance, etc. One local agent serves as a dual for 5% and another for 4% so whether the seller desires no agents, or one or two or a dual that should not be a deal breaker as far as we are concerned.
You don't have to use an agent, but a good one will be like the choir director / orchestra conductor who brings out the best and works on the worst to make it sound better. As we get ready for the 2021 Super Bowl between the two top teams in the nation, they both still have their coaches too.
I typically give discounts to my clients if they don't need full service. You can negotiate.
Are you buying the home in the same city where you already own a home? If so, and if you had no issues with the closing company who handled your current home, talk to them. They probably handle these situations frequently. If you don't have a relationship with a local title company, your friend might if he sells a lot of properties. You can talk to them or the lawyer, both will probably tell you what these honest agents have - that you don't really need an agent on either the buyer or seller side for the transaction you have described.
I do not work in real estate and previously discussed with the title company who handled the purchase of our home and they confirmed that they had all the forms necessary and could facilitate the closing if we wanted to go 100% agentless.
To answer your question about what the buyer's agent does - they help a buyer search for homes, show them homes, and work with the seller's agent to negotiate the purchase price and closing. As you already noted, most of that has already been done by you and the seller. An agent would also fill out the forms/contracts, which again you can easily have done by lawyer or obtain from title company. Obviously a buyer's agent and a seller's agent do much more for some people (cheerleader, therapist, hand-holder) because all people are different and some people are just more capable of handling certain things than others and some people don't want to have to be the one to make all the contacts and do any negotiations. You and the seller seem to have it all worked out.
In regard to bringing in agents at this late stage in the game, do the math on that 4 or 5% you mentioned they would charge you. Are you getting that much value back on having someone else step in? And who would be paying for it? Are you going to foot the bill? Make your seller/friend foot the bill or have them increase the selling price to account for the difference? Just something to think about. If it were me, I'd just stick with what you've got and save that 4 or 5% $$$ to buy some nice things for your new home. Good luck with everything!
Same things mentioned above for a buyer agent: locate, negotiate, write up offers, protect our interest, know inspectors they have used before, same for attorney (I think the buyer usually brings their attorney?)
We sent a property owner an email and said "no .... as you mentioned we don't need an agent. Your attorney can handle the title and closing. Our lender will do the appraisal and nothing left but the standard inspection and seller disclosure." No reply back yet after about 10 days. Surely inspection and seller disclosure did not scare them away. It's a house 65 years old and of course they know what's wrong with it. There are no gutters for some reason. Low cost problem but surprised they did not put gutters on the house they are using as their primary going on 4 years now.
Last edited by howard555; 04-04-2021 at 06:15 PM..
Houses don’t need gutters if the water drains away on its own. Older houses were sometimes built so water easily rolls away from the foundation.
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