HELP!! How to make an offer on a home (no buyers agent)

[Anonymous]

DCUM-ers! If ever I've needed you, I need you now (almost as much as when I was a new mom with a 1 week old baby, sleep deprived, and insane)!

We want to put an offer on a house-- it's the house we're renting--without our buyers agent (she know this, we're not sneaking around her back). We want to do it quickly-- can someone direct me to a standard contract/offer online that we might use?

We do not live in DC metro area anymore. We're in Washington State--moved here a little while ago. Though I think the offer docs are very similar across all state lines. ??

THANK YOU!!!

[Anonymous]

Don't do it that way.

You're going to want to hire a lawyer OR get your agent involved, but definitely don't do this by yourself.

[Anonymous]

Get an agent. Don't be an idiot.

[Anonymous]

You don't need an agent. You can do it with a real estate lawyer. We did. They can bill by the hour - MUCH cheaper than an agent. We used Paragon Title - any title company can do it. Call them and tell them you want an offer drawn up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get an agent. Don't be an idiot.

Please don't be rude. I don't need to pay someone possibly $30,000 that I could put toward actually making an offer. For goodness sake.

I need to see the legal document and then tweak it.

Does anyone have a link to a sample legal document?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't need an agent. You can do it with a real estate lawyer. We did. They can bill by the hour - MUCH cheaper than an agent. We used Paragon Title - any title company can do it. Call them and tell them you want an offer drawn up.

This.

[Anonymous]

Get a title lawyer to do it. The ones we called in NOVA cost around $500.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need an agent. You can do it with a real estate lawyer. We did. They can bill by the hour - MUCH cheaper than an agent. We used Paragon Title - any title company can do it. Call them and tell them you want an offer drawn up.

This.

Much cheaper to who? The buyer doesn't pay the agent. OP, is the house currently listed with a realtor or are you just approaching the owner out of the blue?

[Anonymous]

OP here.

The owner is a real estate agent. Any offer we can put forward that reduces her costs and reduces ours is to our mutual benefit. Every $10,000 counts. We have the advantage of time (our lease doesn't expire 'til end of June--so she'd get the $ now rather than later, and she says she wants the equity to buy another home) and rental occupancy, meaning we leave, she has to stage and leave the house vacant.

Also, if it's a non-buyers-agent situation, she won't have to pay the 3%. So again, that's to our advantage when we make our offer as non-repped individuals.

[Anonymous]

If the owner is a real estate agent, she'll have a standard form ready for you to fill out. Have it reviewed by a real estate attorney (maybe $ 1000) and get a title agency for the closing. That's it.

[Anonymous]

Just deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

The owner is a real estate agent. Any offer we can put forward that reduces her costs and reduces ours is to our mutual benefit. Every $10,000 counts. We have the advantage of time (our lease doesn't expire 'til end of June--so she'd get the $ now rather than later, and she says she wants the equity to buy another home) and rental occupancy, meaning we leave, she has to stage and leave the house vacant.

Also, if it's a non-buyers-agent situation, she won't have to pay the 3%. So again, that's to our advantage when we make our offer as non-repped individuals.

There is no "mutual benefit" in this situation. Your interests conflict. You really need an attorney or agent to review this document.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

The owner is a real estate agent. Any offer we can put forward that reduces her costs and reduces ours is to our mutual benefit. Every $10,000 counts. We have the advantage of time (our lease doesn't expire 'til end of June--so she'd get the $ now rather than later, and she says she wants the equity to buy another home) and rental occupancy, meaning we leave, she has to stage and leave the house vacant.

Also, if it's a non-buyers-agent situation, she won't have to pay the 3%. So again, that's to our advantage when we make our offer as non-repped individuals.

There is no "mutual benefit" in this situation. Your interests conflict. You really need an attorney or agent to review this document.

Certainly you know what I mean. It's a ledger analogy. What she doesn't have to pay is less red for her and therefore less red for me. Cutting out the cost of the middle man/woman. Surely... well, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Ask her to send you a blank contract. We've bought 3 houses this way. You are no idiot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask her to send you a blank contract. We've bought 3 houses this way. You are no idiot!

Agree, she will likely be amenable to this. If not she's nuts. In NoVa there is a standard document used by all the agents - it's so they don't have to read the whole thing each time, just the edited parts.