Selling our home without an agent

[LovetheMouse12302]

My husband just received a job offer in another state so we will be moving in just a few weeks. We tried for 4 months to sell our home last summer/fall with a realtor with no luck. We had intentions to list again with another realtor, but a family friend asked about our house once they found out we were moving. They want to do a walk through and see our house next week. I'm considering just selling it on our own because we will have a lot more room to negotiate.
If they would happen to be interested in buying our house, what legal steps do we need to take (paperwork, etc)? Thanks in advance!

 

[angwill]

I am sure an attorney who does closings can help walk you through what you would need to do for a lot less money than a realtor. I know there is a title search, a land survey, transfer tax, and other things that need to be done and it might be different depending on where you live to. If you have well and septic that might have to be inspected. Water might need testing if it is a well. Then there are the buyer inspections.

 

[eangel12]

We sold our home without a realtor but did hire an attorney! It was super easy...attorney did all
The paperwork, met at closing office, signed on the dotted line, closing office handed us a
Check from the buyers and that was that! I wouldn't do it without an attorney!

 

[java]

Yes we did it too. Hired an attorney, with focus on real estate. They hired an attorney. We signed papers. They tried to cheap out at closing over a $5 item and I threatened to walk. That was the only snafu. They ended up letting their nit picky stuff go. And we saved about $25000!

 

[teller80]

I agree with hiring an attorney.

I used to work in an office supply store where we sold legal forms, and I was amazed at the number of people who would buy a form for a dollar and be surprised we couldn't give legal advice on how to fill it out.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

We just sold our house in December. The buyers bank said we just needed to go to an office store and get a packet for selling a house, it was about $30. We filled that out, had a lawyer friend give us paper work that was the exact same thing a realtor had given us in the summer when we were checking on selling that had about disclosures on the home. That's all we needed. The bank does the rest.

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

That sounds wonderful! I will call an attorney and ask the specifics. We sure hope they are interested!

 

[POOHsie]

There is sometimes a clause in a realty listing contract that gives the agent a commission even months after your listing with him/her has expired. This is to protect the realtor against sellers who have a buyer lined up but purposely delay the sale 'til after the listing has expired, just to skip paying the commission. Doesn't sound like this is your situation. However, check your listing paperwork to make sure you are in the clear.

In some states, Title Companies can handle closings and all the associated paperwork, with no attorney required. Other states require an attorney. Each state has its own rules and laws.

 

[undertheradar]

Is there a relocation offer included in the job offer? With a relo offer you would have to list with an agent.

 

[mrssmith06]

Yes you need a closing attorney!!!

 

[sweetdana]

Actually assuming they are doing a mortgage, finding a good mortgage company (not a small mom/pop shop) they can assist with the purchase agreement/locating local title and will be familiar with needed items. If you are not in NJ/NY/FL ( where real estate has bells and whistles) you should be able to save a bucket of funds on your own.

Fell free to PM me for a blank purchase agreement if you want ( I was a great/ helpful Loan officer for 8 years before being an underwriter)

 

[wiigirl]

Yes you need a closing attorney!!!

Its not a requirement in my state and there are standard contracts, but I agree you should hire a lawyer to close the deal.

 

[js]

My husband just received a job offer in another state so we will be moving in just a few weeks. We tried for 4 months to sell our home last summer/fall with a realtor with no luck. We had intentions to list again with another realtor, but a family friend asked about our house once they found out we were moving. They want to do a walk through and see our house next week. I'm considering just selling it on our own because we will have a lot more room to negotiate.
If they would happen to be interested in buying our house, what legal steps do we need to take (paperwork, etc)? Thanks in advance!

I live in NY and I did this about 10 years ago when we sold our first home.
I sold it on my own and was much more proactive than a RA would be.
Once I had an offer and wanted to go into contract, I contacted our lawyer who did the contact and then he was involved up until closing (with the buyers lawyers too).

I can tell you I kept showing my house and left my for sale sign out up until the buyers mortgage got approved. Our buyers mom even asked me to please take the sign down and said even if her dd didn't get approved they were going to buy the house for them, but I had to worry about ourselves and kept it up. I did tell potential buyers that we were first in contact and then waiting for mortgage approval but if anyone was interested I took their name and number and told them I would call them if anything changed.

Granted, this was back when homes sold in a weekend (mine did) but you can still go through the same process as long as you have a real estate lawyer.

I was lucky I had a job where I could do a lot of my personal work at the time since it does become a job. I would suggest making up flyers, putting them all over, put an Open House in the paper and advertise.

Good luck!

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

Thanks for all of the replies. We are moving from Indiana to southern Louisiana. Yes, relocation expenses are included in the job offer. I didn't know you couldn't sell by owner if you got relocation expenses. Eeek!

 

[erincon23]

Thanks for all of the replies. We are moving from Indiana to southern Louisiana. Yes, relocation expenses are included in the job offer. I didn't know you couldn't sell by owner if you got relocation expenses. Eeek!

Relocation expenses might be different than a home-selling relo package. Check with the person coordinating your relo. My brother has done this both ways -- one package was just travel expenses for him and his wife to look for a new house and paying to stay at a hotel while they were waiting to close on the new house; the other one was a full package where they had to hire an agent on the company's preferred list, and when the house didn't sell in a specific amount of time, the company bought it from them and sold it. You may be just fine selling it yourself if it works out, even if you're getting relo expenses.

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

Relocation expenses might be different than a home-selling relo package. Check with the person coordinating your relo. My brother has done this both ways -- one package was just travel expenses for him and his wife to look for a new house and paying to stay at a hotel while they were waiting to close on the new house; the other one was a full package where they had to hire an agent on the company's preferred list, and when the house didn't sell in a specific amount of time, the company bought it from them and sold it. You may be just fine selling it yourself if it works out, even if you're getting relo expenses.

We don't know the exact specifics of the relocation package. We will know that once my husband receives the paperwork/contract to sign. To be honest, we aren't familiar with relocation packages and we didn't know what to expect as far as the package goes.

 

[undertheradar]

We don't know the exact specifics of the relocation package. We will know that once my husband receives the paperwork/contract to sign. To be honest, we aren't familiar with relocation packages and we didn't know what to expect as far as the package goes.

Don't do anything until you know the specifics of the relo package. Many companies cover the realtor commissions if you work within the guidelines, so don't show the home or talk price until you know what kind of package you are being given.

 

[SarahKate]

We had a great experience selling on our own about 6 yrs ago. We listed on a FSBO site and I took really good pictures. We had agents representing us in our house search. If you do sell yourself be prepared for calls from home buyers who have agents. They will ask if you'd be willing to offer a commission. Can get a little awkward. Luckily for us we had two competing offers, both of whom didn't have agents. But the contracts they gave us were really horrible, like they were purchased at Staples and biased towards the buyers.

We called our agents and asked for advice. They offered to represent us for a flat fee vs a commission since we'd done all the work up to that point. So they prepared counter offers for us on Realtor approved documents, which are much more fair. Got both buyers to our house and they negotiated everything! Once the offer was accepted, the agents arranged all the paperwork, inspection, closing appointment, etc.

I think this is out of the norm but we were fortunate in how it all worked out.

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

Don't do anything until you know the specifics of the relo package. Many companies cover the realtor commissions if you work within the guidelines, so don't show the home or talk price until you know what kind of package you are being given.

We will definitely wait! Thank you so much!