Buying a property w/out an agent?

Question

I am purchasing 1 bedroom condo w/out an agent. I've researched property through websites and found what I liked. I called the listing agent and I faxed over counter offer. My question is what is the next step if the seller accepts my offer? What about the inspection and final walk through and so forth? What are the steps that I need to take before closing?

Thank you!
I am currently in mortgage business and prior to this I worked for Title Company. I do have Real Estate Attorney for back up and his wife owns a Real Estate Company. I have no problem with my loan and the title work. It is just that I wanted to get some info prior to seeking help from my Attorney's wife. That's all~

Answer 1

Once the seller accepts your offer then the contract will be signed. You will have to hire your own home inspector to come out and inspect the house, also if required, you'll have to pay for an appraisal. Once everything goes well with the appraisal and the inspection, the day before closing is scheduled arrange a walk thru with the sellers agent to make sure the house is in good condition. I STRONGLY recommend that you do this I have heard horror stories of sellers taking all the ceiling fans and lighting fixtures that the buyer thought they were getting in the sale, also I've heard of sellers trashing the home upon move out and the buyer did not do a final walk thru and walked into a disaster area. If this happens and you get a shock on the walk thru, you have the right to postpone the closing until the seller "fixes" any problems they left or you can deduct money from the sale price but you'll have to discuss this before the house closes.

The buyers did not do a final walk thru of my condo, however, I left it in s p i c and span condition, really clean and all the nail holes filled in and painted over. DO A WALK THRU

Answer 2

The next would be to get an inspection done. Though with condo purchases buyers usually waive the inspection because they is not much for the inspector to look for. Not like a house where they check for foundation problems and such. Then you all set the closing date it should be a date in which you are sure that your financing will be completely in place by and that they know they can be moved out. A couple of days before the closing date is when the final walk through should be scheduled. From there just relax and be prepared for the closing. Hope I helped.

Answer 3

Why on earth did you approach it in this fashion ? A buyer's agent to represent you would have cost you ZERO. Any fees for the buyer agent would have been paid by the seller through a commission split between the seller's agent and your buyer agent.

Did you put an inspection contingency in your offer to purchase ? If not, you will have no recourse, even if the inspection results in deficiencies. Generally, final walk throughs are included in offers to purchase, but without seeing your offer to purchase contract, I can't say that is fact.
Did you include a financing contingency ? If not, you could face another hurdle if your financing fails, or if the property does not appraise high enough for your financing.

If you have not included ALL of the above, I recommend withdrawal of your offer prior to any acceptance, and a re-write of same, to protect YOUR interests.

As an aside to REALTOR's post, fiduciary responsibilities of the listing agent vary from state to state. In MY state, we are bound to represent the interests of the seller ONLY, unless we are separately contracted as a buyer's agent.

Oh dear. I just saw your added comment. If your attorney's wife owns a real estate firm, why are you asking this question HERE, instead of directly to HER ?

Answer 4

If the seller accepts your offer, send the contract to your title company so they can process it. During this time, call your Home inspection company and schedule the inspection. Make a date (day of settlement) to walk through with the sellers agent. You are going to need insurance to close (if you are getting a loan), so you should set that up as well.

That'll pretty much take care of it for you. RE agents are nice if you don't want to do anything, but to be honest, many of them know less than you do.

Answer 5

If you want an inspection and final walk through, it will have to be in the contract. If the seller accepts your contract as submitted, you are stuck with whatever terms you put in it.

You could call the seller's agent and withdraw the contract. Then resubmit it later with the contingencies you want (inspections, walk through, etc., etc.)

If the seller accepts your offer, the transaction goes into escrow. Title search, you get your financing together, whatever contingencies you wrote in get resolved, and so forth.

See above for the steps before closing.

For reiteration: The seller's agent DOES NOT REPRESENT YOU, they represent the seller and they do not have your best interests in mind. They may take care of alot of the details (or they may just let you go it alone), but they do not represent you in this transaction.

Answer 6

When a bank can't close a foreclosure sale at auction, it sends that property to its inventory. Bank owned foreclosures in inventory are called REOs, or "real estate owned." Banks will give these REOs to asset managers, who will in turn hand them off to realtors. Realtors will then list these foreclosed properties and try to sell them like any other home. Buying an REO can be even simpler than buying than buying a property from a traditional homeowner if you know what to do and have the right strategy.

Answer 7

Remember that in MOST places a buyer is represented for free. You are giving this agent a major payday because they dont have to split the comission. If this offer is not accepted I would recommend hiring a agent it should be free to you as the seller has to pay. The agent you hire will represent your best interests.

Answer 8

It is all on your shoulders to handle all of it. Without a Realtor, you are unrepresented. That is a dangerous place to be in this type of market where houses are losing appreciation and lenders have tightened their credit. Why risk such an important decision? If you have gone in without an agent, AT LEAST hire a Real Estate Attorney to act as your backup. The Seller and their agent are there to sell the property and DO NOT HAVE YOUR INTERESTS. While they do not, hopefully, want to commit fraud, they do not owe you anything but general answers.... protect yourself, your money and your investment!

Answer 9

Hopefully your counter offer included verbage that allows you to void the sale if the property inspection is not satisfactory to you. If you didn't include that, you will either have to take the property anyway or face a breech of contract suit.

I simply do not understand why people refuse to avail themselves of the services of a Real Estate Professional when it doesn't cost them a cent to do so.

It makes about as much sense as performing your own appendectomy!

Answer 10

I am sorry to say you researched the wrong topic...You should have researched "Buying a home the smart way..." If you would have, you would have realized that you could have hired the expertise and experience of a Buyers Agent...at NO cost to you. That agent you are dealing with (the one representing the Sellers best interests, not yours) would have gladly paid your buyers agent to do all of this stuff you are asking about. Good Luck!