I am looking into purchasing a vacant lot next door to us. the property is not currently listed and has not been for a few years so the owner is not obligated to use a Realtor. I checked with the title company and the title transfer seems pretty straightforward. They will set up an escrow account and do the title search, etc. for far less than a Realtor. So do I need a Realtor for some reason I have overlooked? Should I have a Real Estate Attorney handle the transaction?

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I'd seek the counsel of an attorney that specializes in real estate, they will know the required disclosures etc. that the seller must provide to you. Can't see a reason to need a realtor.

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

I’m in the middle of doing this right now but I have a realitor friend helping me. You can do a grant deed which is similar to the paperwork of buying a car. Are you paying cash or through the bank? If your getting financing then the bank will want a lot of extra expenses. You can hire a real estate agent. I would since you don’t know what to do. the seller will Typically pay for the commission in the final bill or work out a deal with the agent.

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1993 e300
1995 e320
1994 e320
2006 s500 4matic
2004 Jeep wj overland
2001 Ducati 748
2004 Honda shadow aero

It would be cash. I know the seller pays the realtors fees but in the end it will trickle down to me in the form of a higher asking price. I'm hoping to use the savings when negotiating the price. They had it on the market a few years ago at a really unrealistic price. They bought during the real estate boom and are trying to recover their investment. I would like to use it as part of our yard. It could still be sold later if need be.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

The only thing real estate agents and brokers do is get the buyer and seller together, and show up at the closing to get their cut. You've already done what the real estate broker's and agent's function is.

In most states, real estate closings are done by attorneys. However, in Floriduh it's normally done by a "title abstract company." It sounds like that's also the case in Oregon.

Attorneys usually sell title insurance, also. It's cheap and could prevent losing the whole property if there's something fishy with the title. The last attorney I used to sell some property gave me a deal because I bought title insurance from him.

You can save on property taxes by having the lots legally combined into one lot. If you want to sell it later, you can split them up again.

When I was a kid, I inherited 1/7th of my grandparents' house (my dad's share, since he'd died). We sold out to my aunt. I needed to get my signature of the sales contract signed, and a real estate broker who lived down the street was a notary. When I went to his office to get the contract notarized, he was feeding me some bull**** about how we should get a real estate broker to handle the deal. So, I learned at a very early age how crooked and useless real estate agents and brokers can be.

The Interwebs and put a real hurting on the real estate sales business. It's made it possible to sell a house without them (e.g. FSBO.com, ForSaleByOwner.com) or with a very small commission (e.g. Redfin.com).

My last real estate was land purchase out of state. With those sales websites, Google Maps, Google Earth (satellite imagery), Google Street View, and various city and county websites (run by the property appraiser) I could get a good idea if the lot would work for me or not.

All you need is a title company to handle the paperwork. Many title companies are owned and operated by lawyers who specialize in real estate transactions. One item to make sure of though is be sure and take a trip to the court house land records office AFTER you buy the land. You want to make sure the title did, in fact, transfer to you.

Once upon a time, I paid a title closing lawyer $500 to handle a closing. Unfortunately, I assumed she had done her job and had recorded the deed at the court house. Two years later I found out BY ACCIDENT she had not lifted a finger and the title was STILL in the seller's name! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASSUME THE PEOPLE YOU ARE PAYING ARE PROPERLY DOING THEIR JOB. NEVER EVER ASSUME ANYONE HAS DONE ANYTHING THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO. In some cases. you have to "sweep up after the help".

When I found out about the unrecorded deed, I went to her office FOUR separate times asking her to fix the problem to no avail. She had my five hundred bux and still wouldn't do anything to fix the problem. I should have filed a complaint with the BBB and the Bar Association but at that point, I needed to sell the house and get out of town. I was short on time.

I found out the fix was easy, something I could have easily done myself. It is known as a Deed of Correction. A ten year old could type one up. We sent it to the seller, he signed it and then my NEW AND IMPROVED title agent recorded it in the land deeds office. No muss, no fuss.

Title company is going to charge him thousands for the paperwork. I bought a property for $4k and they wanted another $3800 for the processing. I did a motorized grant deed and only cost $250.

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1993 e300
1995 e320
1994 e320
2006 s500 4matic
2004 Jeep wj overland
2001 Ducati 748
2004 Honda shadow aero

The nice thing about using a title company is they will perform an EXHAUSTIVE title search to see if there are any liens or levies against the title. At closing, they make D*MN sure the liens and levies are paid off so that you receive a CLEAR TITLE (which, I assume, you want). That said, see my post #7 above. Take your time to carefully interview the title closing company because they are the people that make this deal work (or in my case, it did not work out so well which is why I had to seek out a SECOND title company who actually knew what they were doing and took care of the problem the first title company had created).

The title company can also arrange for the purchase of title insurance that covers you, the buyer.

If you don't want to pay a title company due to high costs, you could seek out the services of a real estate paralegal who might be willing to work for less. Even with this, PROOF READ every word on the deed and if you don't understand what it says, ASK.

The Title company charges about $2k+-. I (or the seller I presume) would be happy to pay that instead of a realtor. The owners live in Modesto and for what ever reason did not build.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

See if you can find a realtor who you can negotiate with over co$t. (S)he wont have to advertise/show prospectives/etc, & wont have those & other expenses associated with typical sales. Talk is cheap, ask, , , Remember some stuff you're gonna have to pay for in any event.

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"I applaud your elaborate system of denial"

The last few loans through a bank had around $1500. in loan and closing cost fees. Cheap insurance against past due mechanic liens, delinquent taxes, and some even have coverage if recent improvement in the area will effect next years taxes. Also keeping a loan on any property right now is not a bad idea. I don't see inflation going anywhere but up, means paying the loan back (actually buying) with cheaper dollars.

There is another side to keeping a loan on a property. ANYTIME a lawyer is considering suing you for whatever reason, they do a quick asset search to see if you have anything of value. Why sue someone who is BROKE? There is a reason lawyers are known as sharks, they are ALWAYS after the MONEY.

If they check the land records and see a $300,000 house with a $290,000 loan against it, they generally MOVE ON and look for easier kills.

On the other hand, if they see you have a $300,000 house that YOU OWN FREE AND CLEAR..........GAME ON BROTHER!!!

I have sold 3 of my homes without the alleged benefit of a realtor. The amount of money they get is wildly out of line for the work they do. You only have to put up a sign, advertise, maybe make up some brochures on your computer and be willing to show the house.

An attorney will do the rest for a few hundred dollars. I split the cost saving with the buyer and everyone was convinced they got a good deal.