FSBO family sale

[s_county]

A relative is downsizing and we have agreed to purchase their home. Fair market value, no agents involved.

I have bought before, but with an agent. What can I expect from this process?

I’m already pre-qualified. We don’t have a contract yet, or a contract template. I have been calling around to escrow companies getting quotes.

Does escrow help with the contract, or do we need a real estate attorney? Any help getting started is appreciated.

[njtosd]

Get a real estate attorney. The seller should, too. It’s not that expensive and ideally provides an outside perspective that should help avoid conflict.

[svelte]

Not to throw a monkey wrench in the entire works, but here goes.

Bypassing a realtor and having the transaction complete at market value benefits the seller, not the buyer. Why?

Because the seller would be paying the realtor’s fees.

If you want things to be equitable, the house should sell for 3% under market, which splits the typical realtor’s fee evenly between the buyer and seller.

Again, if you love the house, buy it. Just giving you an objective opinion.

[cvmom]

We bought our house in similar circumstances (a bit under market to compensate for the lack of realtor). Although we did not know the sellers very well, they were acquaintances. We basically had the escrow company help us through it, no attorneys. Worked out fine and we love our house. Not sure if I can recommend this course of action to you, but just telling you it did work out for us.

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