Need Real Estate Advice

The Texas Real Estate Commission has forms on-line. If the two of you can complete and agree to the items on the form then you can take the contract to a title company and they can handle it for you. If you are uncomfortable or want the contract reviewed, the title co can recommend an attorney for you and it should be much less expensive than a real estate commission. If your buyer needs a loan, he or she can go to any lender and get one.

I would find a contract that covers your needs (there are websites that have them for a nominal fee I'm sure). Then just find a title company to handle the paperwork (title/deed, bank, and closing docs). I'm sure if you're really worried about the contract, simply look for a real estate attorney, they probably have a form type contract that they can set you up with (again, for a nominal fee). Should still be cheaper than paying a realtor's commission.

If it is the price you are worried about, "is it fair", "am I selling it for too little/much?", then it is worth paying for an appraisal. It will be about $300 to $350, but would well be worth it. You could show the appraisal to the buyers if it helps your case and etc. Otherwise, my husband and I bought our current home from people we know and we didn't have any help from anyone but the loan officer we were working with. He (and I am sure the underwriters and processors) gathered all the paper work and etc. we needed for closing. So, if you do research for contracts and etc. as stated above, that would be a good idea as well, but I don't think you need a realtor personally.

Actually, it is not senseless. Realtors do much more than simply locate a buyer. The liabilities involved with the sale of real property are complex and extensive. At a minimum you should have either a real estate attorney or a licensed realtor assist you with completing the sale. The realtor is probably going to be cheaper. Since they were not required to locate a buyer, you can probably negotiate a reduced rate. There are also contract documents and advice available at self-sale sites such as www.buyowner.com. The bank holding your mortgage may also be able to assist you.

I think it depends on who is buying the house. We almost purchased a home from one of those Home Vestors people and they told us that if we wanted to have our agent work with them about the deal that the price would go up to include commission they'd be giving up. We asked our agent his advice (he's also my uncle) and said that as long we were using a company that does this regularly it would probably be fine as long as we checked over everything. Someone else in 'the business' said that if we were uneasy about it that we could ask an agent to look over the contract for a flat rate. The deal fell through because someone made an offer literally an hour before us, but we were planning to just do it ourselves & get my uncle to check over things if we started to feel uncomfortable.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you feel comfortable doing it without an agent, save yourself some money. Or, see if you could get an agent to look over the contract for a reduced rate or just a nice gift (especially if it's someone you know). If you're selling it as is, I would think that using an agent would just be giving up money for no good reason.

Sorry, my SIL & her mom are agents & I seriously believe they are worst than used car salesmen (sorry guys). . . . say anything to make a buck! Not all of them are like that (my uncle for example) but so many are that I would do it myself if I could avoid using an agent.