Having been the principal on the purchasing and buying side of 100+ residential and commercial transactions with and without realtors involved, my OPINION is that you do not need a realtor. Plenty of situations where an honest realtor is needed…this IS NOT one of those situations. You need the following:

- a good real estate attorney
- a GREAT home inspector that can include repair costs in their inspection report
- a decent title company

Lots of advice I could give you, but a good real estate attorney will cover all the bases including the dynamics of the results of the inspection upon the predetermined or to be determined price.

I am going through this right now. Offer a realtor a fee to provide you with a set range of comps (for example, all 2023 sales, similar square footage, in same subdivision, etc.). Put this in Excel and adjust for the repair you have to make. Or, just get an unbiased appraisal. Pay an attorney to review all your paperwork. All forms like the contract are available on the TREC website.

BQ04 said:

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This thread is precisely the reason why people loathe real estate agents.

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Seems exactly the opposite to me. OP contacted a seller with what he describes as an unlivable house that he doesn't know how to value and then contacted an agent.

JJ, you do home construction lending, correct? Do you base your lending amount on what the realtors value the home, or do you base it on an appraisal done by an appraiser?

We were going to use an appraisal done by an appraiser to value the home.

HarleySpoon said:

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Having been the principal on the purchasing and buying side of 100+ residential and commercial transactions with and without realtors involved, my OPINION is that you do not need a realtor. Plenty of situations where an honest realtor is needed…this IS NOT one of those situations. You need the following:

- a good real estate attorney
- a GREAT home inspector that can include repair costs in their inspection report
- a decent title company

Lots of advice I could give you, but a good real estate attorney will cover all the bases including the dynamics of the results of the inspection upon the predetermined or to be determined price.

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I appreciate this input and agree.

I was able to connect with Agilaw, and he helped me out a great deal with the title issues the owner was facing. I would recommend him to others.

The local realtor I have been using in my home search is excellent. She has been a real estate agent in the area for 30+ years, lives near by and is a top agent in town. She seemed a little out of her comfort zone with the atypical sale and title issues.

Mortgage and construction lending. I was replying to the guy that said people loathe agents which I don't understand because a good one is valuable. That said Realtors opinions of value aren't part of the lending process. I agree an independent appraisal is your best option.