Step 1: Buy or borrow a copy of Home Buying for Dummies (no insult intended LOL.) It's a good basic education and highly readable.

Step 2: Hire a Real Estate Attorney to write the contract and advise you. There are so many pitfalls that the relatively inexpensive (compared to an agent's commission) dollars will be well worth it. This step is really important if this is your first home purchase.

I know someone who brought their home, in which they were living in for almost 30 yrs. without an agent:

All she did was hire an attorney that works in real estate and they take care of everything.(inspection, appraisal, checking of any liens, etc...)

Good Luck

As is means they won't fix anything. You can still get it inspected to determine the price you want to offer, a few hundred dollars well worth it!

Definitely get it inspected. Make sure you opt for the right to walk away if there are just too many costly repairs.

We purchased, as is, the house we were renting, but we used an agent. We paid for an inspection (to help come up with offer price) and appraisal (required by mortgage company). I assume the seller paid our agent's 3%, since we didn't borrow any extra to pay her and never wrote her a check.

It was nice to have the agent hold our hand through the process. We knew nothing about how to find comps or inspectors or title company or anything since we hadn't ever considered purchasing. When the landlord died suddenly, we had the choice of buying from his children or moving out so they could put it on the market.

Sorry for the slight hijack since the OP specified *no agent*. I guess I'm just wondering why one wouldn't want an agent involved? Was using one a stupid rookie mistake? I'm really curious now that we're thinking of buying another.

bunglogrl wrote: I guess I'm just wondering why one wouldn't want an agent involved? Was using one a stupid rookie mistake? I'm really curious now that we're thinking of buying another.

Using an Agent is certainly a personal choice but it is NOT a "stupid rookie mistake". But since you did not sign with the Agent and the sellers paid her commission, technically she was working for the sellers. Even it sounds like everything went great for you with your first home purchase, in the future you might want to get your own Agent.

"But since you did not sign with the Agent and the sellers paid her commission, technically she was working for the sellers"
Since there was no listing agreement, just because the seller paid the agent, does not imply the agent was working for the seller. Who pays the agent has no bearing on agency.

Agent not required. Real Estate Lawyer required. Why pay the 3% to an agent? For what? Writing a simple contract? Let the lawyer do it (they will better cover your interests).

Advice 2 and 3. Yes home inspection and Title Insure it.

Go for it! Why keep throwing money down drain on rent.

Btw, as a side note to this, I once read that the real estate market's predictable roller coaster is totally controlled by cost to rent versus cost to buy. In other words, if it is cheaper to rent than buy house, the market goes down. Cheaper to buy, market booms. Just a piece of info to consider.

You are in a good position, much better than most people who buy a house. You know what's been done to it for the past 22 years! You are the one who took care of it so it should be up to your standards. Most people have no idea of what's happened in their house before they bought it.

You should be fine with just using a real estate attorney, not an agent. Read a book or 2 to understand the basics and make sure the attorney is willing to help you as much as you need, and isn't there just to write up a contract. Find one who will advise you in a clear manner.

Good luck! You must really like the place to have stayed that long. Now you can make it yours.

No we didn't sign any agreement with her, she was just one of my DH's customers. She was the only RE agent we (sort of) knew and she was a nice lady.

She could have been working in the sellers interest but it didn't seem that way. She spent A LOT of time with us for a month. She even ended up calling our mortgage broker and got him to eliminate/reduce some of the fees which she thought were unreasonable. Like I said, we knew zilch about buying a house. We never thought we'd be homeowners unless we moved out of pricy SF Bay Area.

The house was never listed for sale, no listing agent. Her office is nearby so we called her when we heard rumors that the estate was a mess and the kids would need to sell off the rentals they inherited. She recommended an inspector, came by the house with some comps, and made an offer we thought was awfully low. She did include 2 letters, one from us and one from our neighbor who remembered the landlord fondly and really wanted us to buy the house. She was sure they'd take it - a fast sale, as is, when they had dozens of rentals & tenants to get rid of. She was right, they acceped the offer immediately. We lucked out.

I hope she's not insulted when we ask her to sign an agreement with us for the next purchase! Thanks for the tip.

I can't imagine that she would be insulted, she will probably be flattered that you were happy with her before and want to use her again.
She sounds like a wonderful Agent!

Many thanks to all for your advice. Now where do I find this inspector? I have no idea how to begin to look. The guy who appraised the house suggested we get an inspector because there were a few issues he could not determine.

Your lawyer will help you find a good inspector. Do not try this without a good lawyer, which will not cost that much and will give you the assurance that you are doing everything correctly to protect your interest and get this simple transaction done efficiently.

I have both bought and sold without agents; in very case it has worked out well, but it does require that both buyer and seller deal responsibly with each other. But it is no different from any other human interaction, if everybody does a bit more than they "have to" all will go well. (The "bit more" windage is to account for differing points of view and different interests.)

Your sellers are lucky to have found a qualified buyer so close at hand.

Good Luck!

Molly~

What state are you in?

Here in Texas, all home transactions that I have been involved with use a standardized contract from the texas real estate commission, which contrary to most, is very readable and doesn't require training in legalese.
Of course, they have a disclaimer that you should also hire an attorney, but that is really easy money for the attorney!

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/formslawscontracts/forms/forms-contracts.asp

Something similar probably also exists in the state that you live in.