Wife and I are getting ready to Waexit (Washington exit?)

A family in our neighborhood posted in social media the at their sons family is looking to buy in our neighborhood. We had them over and they want to make a deal to buy the house.

We haven't listed yet or signed with a realtor so we're interested in seeing if this could work out.

We haven't done this before, any tips for ensuring a safe and smooth transaction?

Thanks!

There is no law that I'm aware of that requires a realtor/broker to sell a home but your state laws may vary. Or politicians may change that.

We've sold both vacant land and a home without a realtor. Two realtors and a broker did nothing but put up their signs and we never heard from then again. So we got creative, made up flyers and placed them at large employers (Intel, GM, Motorola, American Express, etc) bulletin boards. Take good digital images. Maybe have a temporary website for images and description.

The downside is dealing with to many tire kickers that have nothing else to do.

A title company will have the necessary forms. Check with a few companies and review the forms pertaining to normal closing costs of buyer and seller. However, the buyer and seller can agree ahead of time how closing costs would be split. It's not hard to do but it is time consuming. Certainly worth saving the commission price of a realtor.

We've also used a young newly licensed realtor to review everything, make certain everything is done, then paid him in cash.

if you have a ready, willing and able buyer, find a broker or attorney that will prepare the necessary forms and disclosures for you at a reasonable price.

A good title company has all the experts you need on staff. I've been involved with numerous sales of this type and they are not difficult, just hire a good title company to handle the details/closing and be absolutely certain that your buyer has the funds in hand.

Sold my wife's family home after her mothers death. Used a local title company that has done this for many years. Painless and saved us $$$.

Even though I believe WA state is an escrow/title company state, I would spend the money to pay an attorney that specializes in real estate closings.

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:
if you have a ready, willing and able buyer, find a broker or attorney that will prepare the necessary forms and disclosures for you at a reasonable price.

^^ This ^^

Just realize you are going against the unholy triumvirate of the RealTor, Lender, and Appraiser.

Since you are fucking the RealTor out of something they think they deserve (ie 3-7% commission), expect to have some issues with the Appraiser.

They are all dogs, licking each others backsides, so you might not get the appraisal you need.

Found this out in CA years ago, when I FSBO'ed my house for $359K and a similar yet lesser house sold in the same neighborhood (with a RealTor) for $389K.

Guess which house had to be appraised twice and still fell $5K short of the sales prices? Yeah, the one w/o a RealTor.

Even so, it's worth it as the buyer came up with some more cash and I didn't have to pay $20K to the RealTor for doing nothing.

A friend who is a Realtor just listed a very nice home, here on the MO River. Asking was $850K and it sold in a week to a TX millionaire.

So she made money by listing, as well as selling it. Quite the racket.

I sold our first home myself. It was located on Main Street in a quaint village. It moved fairly quickly but was still a big investment in time.

What’s your time worth ?

If you already have a buyer for the house, absolutely sell it without a realtor. Just make sure to get a good real estate attorney to handle all of the necessary paperwork.

If you don't have a buyer, I'd advise listing it with a realtor as it usually almost always seems you'll get that much additional (amount of the commission) in increased sale price.

My wife's a realtor so I've seen what goes on behind the scenes.
Hire a good appraiser to establish what it is worth. If you don't know how to find then, ask at your banks mortgage department. They should be able to give you a list of them. If this sale doesn't work out, the appraisal will be handy if you decide to list the property with or without a realtor.
Once you've established a price, do the contract using a good real estate attorney.
Often buyers will build in a discount because you aren't using a realtor (saving the commission) which means the net gain to you is zero.
A good realtor does a lot more that hang out a sign and write up the deal. I can use accounting software for my small business but I pay a CPA.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
A friend who is a Realtor just listed a very nice home, here on the MO River. Asking was $850K and it sold in a week to a TX millionaire.

So she made money by listing, as well as selling it. Quite the racket.

In many states that's not legal, in others it isn't advisable. You can't represent both sides of a negotiation without a conflict of interest.
The only winner there is the agent.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:
if you have a ready, willing and able buyer, find a broker or attorney that will prepare the necessary forms and disclosures for you at a reasonable price.

^^ This ^^

^^^This +2. As the seller you'll have responsibility for the sales contract and any representations made about the home. The buyer (through their lender most likely) will have responsibility for home inspection, termite inspection, title search, appraisal, etc. A decent local real estate attorney or title company can get this deal done for substantially less $$$ than dealing with realtors. And the best part, you won't have to deal constantly with the incompetence and ignorance of most realtors trying to get to the finish line. Its my personal opinion that in Florida, 85%+ of the realtors you'll come in contact with know very little more about home purchase/sales than the buyers who contacted them do. I've bought and sold real state here in Florida several times over the years, and the realtors involved were either totally worthless, or a negative influence on the process.

Unless WA is really different, you can sell your own home. No big deal. Find a copy of a buy/sell agreement, get details worked out (who pays for closing/appraisal/etc), reduce to contract, sign with notary, proceed. Assuming the buyers are using a bank to get their loan, I've found lenders very helpful to get basic contracts and contacts for appraisals, warranty deeds, termite inspection, etc.

Easy to do. Here an "Abstract Company" will do the transfer for you. If the son is buying for cash, super easy and fast. If he has a loan arranged, it is still easy but another few steps are added, as the mortgage company may place a few hoops in the way.

We must get a "sidewalk inspection" and pay our township $60 for the pleasure. Then repair any parts with the yellow "fail" dot spray-painted on them. Your county or township website may have similar information.

We sold our house without a realtor. We wrote our purchase agreement, signed it in front of a notary, and used a local title company to close.

If a loan company is involved they will want an appraisal and inspections. The title company did the title search.

look up my I hate renter threads in the whats your deal forum. I went through that last year

I hear there's a guy in Alabama who's a genius with real estate.

We sold a house ourselves. Buyer had cash so all we did was use a title company for the closing