With my associate Marc Holmes, I have extensive experience in assisting people in buying a house without a real estate agent. My clients typically find the "house of their dreams" on the internet. They then retain me to assist them in making an offer and insuring that the parties enter into a binding and enforceable contract. We continue to assist with the process through closing (negotiating resolution of contingencies, reviewing title, reviewing closing documents, etc.).
In a "typical" sale, the seller's agent is entitled to a commission of 6% of the sale price. The seller's agent then splits that equally with the buyer's agent. Thus, where there is no buyer's agent, there is 3% that is not accounted for. Accordingly, when I write an offer on behalf of my client, we offer at least 3% less than the listing price. In other words, we hope that the seller will convince the seller's agent to reduce the commission to 3%. That way, the seller gets what was expected, the seller's agent gets what was expected, and the buyer gets to save a lot of money by not using an agent.
In this difficult market, sellers need to take every offer seriously, even those that may not please the seller's agent. If the property has been on the market a long time, the seller is probably willing to accept a low offer, regardless of whether it was written by an agent or an attorney. In those instances, having an attorney write your offer should not put you at any disadvantage, and it should lead to a substantial savings.
Contact me or Marc if you are interested in saving a lot of money when you buy a house.
