OK, so my wife and I are planning on moving to Pennsylvania from Texas. She was going to stay behind to sell the house. We were hoping to break even with realtor commisions, etc. However the school where she worked has some new coaches coming in, and one of them is possibly interested in our house. So basically, I need to know what I need to do to sell our house on our own. Also, is there someone who will assist us with the necessary paperwork, etc for a minimal fee (since we will already have the buyer)?
I’m sure there will be a throng of people along shortly to tell you that you should never sell a house without a realtor and/or a real estate lawyer working for you. That is probably good advice. But, it can be done quite easily without.
The first thing you need is a standard offer sheet. This will spell out the terms of the offer the buyer is making. Make sure it includes $ amounts, earnest money, length of time the offer is good, what is included, ie appliances.
Most of the paperwork for the transfer of title from one homeowner to the new homeowner is taken care of by the firm lending the money to the buyer. All you do is sign the papers and collect the money.
This is a gross simplification, and should one party decide to screw the other party, it could get nasty.
All that said, I’ve never used a realtor to buy or sell any of the houses I’ve owned.
You might want to check out this site:
I have not used the site but it may have some useful data. Any library or bookstore should have several how-to books for selling your own house. Or you could negotiate a much reduced commission with a real estate agent just to guide you through the paperwork. Real estate law varies widely from state to state, so make sure you use information pertinent to your state.
Good luck!
I sold my last house by myself and it was easy. If you already have a buyer, you no longer need a real estate agent. All you need to do is find a title company to take care of the paperwork. Of course the buyer has to apply and get the mortgage. You will have to make a few phone calls to push things along. That’s about it.
Why go through an agent if he has a buyer? I would suggest you just get a real estate laywer, you have to anyway or at least you pay for one. They should be able to write up all the paper work for you and make sure everything is correct.
I’ve done it both ways. The best thing to do (IMO) is go through a real estate attorney to handle all monies, legal documents, and the closing. Pay for him 50-50 by you and the seller so he is basically working to “shepard” the deal through. Nuke is right, the bulk of the work is done by the title company.
The main advantages or realtors from my experience is 1)advertising - running ads in the paper ain’t cheap and you get in the homes for sale local database 2) qualified buyers - I had a few people with bad credit try to buy my house…realtors wouldn’t touch them because they knew they were unloanable.
One of the drawbacks of FSBO is that you kind of get black balled by real estate agents representing buyers…they ain’t brining the buyers to you for free…so they’ll guide them to other houses where they can get a paycheck.
You can negotiate the comm % if you decide to list.
I checked out that site, and needless to say I did not find it to be as helpful as I had hoped. Assuming this guy is acutally interested, I will talk to a real estate lawyer (since I believe I need one since the web site didn’t help me very much). Anything I need to know on how to find a good one? Should I wait until the guy gets pre-approved for a mortgage to talk to one (so I don’t pay the fee and find out he can’t get financing)? I’m sure there are thing I’m forgetting to think about.
If you’ve got a buyer just contact a lawyer that specializes in real estate. I emphasize “specializes in real estate” as a must as many state laws/rules governing representations about the sale of real estate between residential buyers and sellers are often highly complex and full of enormous liability traps. This is one reason why there is a lot of listing and selling paperwork. There are a multitude of forms that sellers must sign regarding material facts they are representing about the property, and there are a lot of built in protections for buyers. The sale of a residence is not really a true caveat emptor scenario. In many cases it’s the seller who needs to beware.
The large majority of the time you could probably do without these forms, but the few times there is a serious post-settlement dispute you could find yourself on the wrong end of a very expensive lawsuit without them.
You don’t need a Realtor/real estate agent if you’ve already got a buyer, and please don’t ask a real estate friend to get the forms for you or help you in the transaction, as they will encumber themselves legally if they do this. If something goes wrong and lawsuits start flying they are liable for rendering assistance even if they did not get paid for their assistance.
Repeat - Lawyer.specializes.real estate
Astro - Realtor- CCIM- Commercial Real Estate agent
if you are really cheap, you can buy a sales contract and disclosure form at office depot. I don’t recommend going that route. I’d let the lawyer handle all legal documents.
I’d collect his earnest money right now…have him make the check payable to the attorney’s office and make him not qualifying for a mortgage grounds for his forfeiture of his earnest money. this covers you because your house will be off the market for the next 4 to 6 weeks, if he can’t get a mortgage, no telling how many potential buyers would have come forward in that time period…most contracts will say he gets his money back.
i would say don’t bother with a lawyer OR a realtor unless you have bodies buried in the back yard. just get a simple contract. i used to be a realtor. i found if you have a good enough contract (put “as is” in at every turn) you just need a closing agent. they will make sure that the process is facilitated quite nicely. they are pretty cheap.
i am not a lawyer, and if you want legal advice consult a lawyer.
follow boo’s advice about earnest money.
minor hijack–can anybody tell me what a realtor does that justifies his huge fees? Sure, he advertises for me, but I can do that alone in the local paper. And he knows his way through the paperwork, but so does a lawyer–who is both better qualified, and takes more responsiblity, and works for an HOURLY fee, not a percentage.
First of all, I believe you’re talking about a real estate agent, and not necessarily a Realtor. The former is a generic term; the latter is an agent who is a dues-paying member of the National Association of Realtors. While all Realtors are real estate agents, not all real estate agents are Realtors. Secondly, a good real estate agent is worth every penny he/she charges, and the fee is (in general) determined by supply and demand. No one says you have to pay it; when you sell a house, don’t hire an agent, and when you’re in the market to buy a house, only look at homes that are “for sale by owner”…
Yeah, I see no reason why you can’t negotiate your Realtor fees. esp. when you already have an interested party.
Nolo.com probably has the best layperson law books that I know.
Ahem – genuine, active Realtor[sup]TM[/sup] checking in here.
The primary purpose of real estate agents is to bring buyers and sellers together. If you already have a buyer, you may not need one.
Crafter_Man is right, a Realtor[sup]TM[/sup] is a member of NAR. You do not have to be one to sell real estate – in all states that I know of, you need a license, but membership in NAR is voluntary. However, the benefits are so great that very few agents go it alone (usually developers/agents that have little need for the Multiple listing Service, for example).
The amount of advertising Realtors do is considerable. We take out frequent display ads, many in color, in both local and distant newspapers, specialty publications, and web sites, and often advertise with postcards and targeted mailings. This cost is considerable, and often greater than a FSBO realizes.
A listing with a Realtor will put your property in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for the nearby region, and all local agents have access to it. This is something that private advertising just cannot buy. In my small area, within 72 hours of a listing being signed (usually much sooner), 170 agents are immediately notified and they have complete details on the property at their fingertips.
A Realtor will also handle open houses, screen clients, answer inquiries, show your house, help you decide on the best price to ask, arrange for surveys and tests (like septic and wells), and give advice on how to best prepare your house for display. A lawyer will not do any of these things (or if he did, you wouldn’t want to pay his hourly fee).
And an experienced agent is particularly tuned to common problems that crop up – Does the window air conditioner go with the house? Curtains & drapes? Light fixtures? Are there any easements involved? How about zoning regulations?
As far as legal advice – an agent is not authorized to give any. But 80% of all transactions can be handled with checkoff boxes or addendums to standard forms without resorting to a lawyer. If a particular situation cannot, it is my ethical duty to inform the client to obtain the advice of an attorney. Then the cost may escalate.
Remember, commissions are always negotiable; antitrust laws prevent agents from even saying, “Oh, we all charge X%; that’s the usual fee.” I know of no state that mandates a percentage number (but I could be wrong about this).
If a seller already has a buyer, you can take your transaction to an escrow or title agent (this depends on the state), and they will handle the transfer of funds, title and related matters. However, they rarely will (or can) give any advice, and they probably won’t help you fill out forms. If you need that, an agent may be a better choice. And if that’s ALL you need, an agent is very likely to do it for a reduced fee, so ask.
If you are a buyer looking for property, and your state permits it, I highly recommend hiring an agent to be your representative. You will sign a “buyer agency” agreement, and from then on, the agent & his firm will represent you, not the seller. This means that even FSBO sales will be included in the market that your agent looks at for you. And if the agent knows of any property that is soon to be on the market, he should notify you first before making it public, giving you a jump on the competition.
And if the seller is already represented by an agent, he will be paying the commision, so a buyer’s agency contract may cost you nothing. A FSBO sale, however, will probably obligate you to foot the commission, and there are some transactions that fall in between, where you pay just a part of the commission. It’s all negotiable.
Dilbert, after rereading the OP, I think a Realtor/agent might be useful to you in a way I didn’t previously mention – he can handle the entire selling process after you have moved, if you want. I did this when I wanted to move way across the country, and left behind two properties in an agents’ hands. He handled everything; fax and FedEx was used when my actual signature was needed. Very convenient, and I felt he earned every penny.
And, if anyone cares, here is a better link to National Association of Realtors.
And a word to the wise – Nolo Press is great, but even they strongly advise you to have the very latest version of their books before pursuing serious legal action. (They say never use a book more than one year old.) I always thought this was just a way to sell more books, but I lost a lot of money once when the book I was using didn’t include a recent law change. My opponent knew about the loophole, and exploited it to his advantage.
Yup, you only need the agent if you need to find a buyer. If you have a buyer or can find one on your own then you may not need an agent. But finding a buyer on your own is often not that easy. I sold my house using an agent and he didn’t do much of anything, except put the house in the computer multiple listing service which is where another agent found it and brought the buyer. If I could have put the house myself in the system I could have done without the agent. If the listing service were open to private people then agents would lose a huge part of their business. You can advertise in the papers but it is not as effective.
Other than that I built a webpage with photos and all sorts of details (still out there somewhere), I wrote my own contract, etc. If I had a buyer I would not have needed an agent.