We are buying a home from a friend with no realtors involved. We have a title company picked out to work with but do we need to find a RE lawyer as well for the contract part?

/thread

Yup have done this multiple times...just take your time to read through the forms and understand the terms

In my opinion it's a waste of money to have a real estate attorney involved. Why have an attorney review the contract that is used on almost every home sale? As noted above you can download that same exact contract online through Texas real estate commission.

Besides, the title company and lender will make sure all is in order. I know this because I bought a house from a friend without using a realtor.

+1 for no attorney. As others have said you can download the exact same form every realtor is going to use anyway. Just read it carefully. It's not overly complex language.

Question - what do you do on the One to Four form on Section 24 that says to name the lawyers if you aren't using one?

Any other tips or gotchas about doing a direct sale?

Glad I found this thread as this might possibly be quite handy. We had a friend say they are interested in our place which we will be selling in another couple of months.

Leave it blank or N/A.

If you can read and comprehend what you are reading you do not need a lawyer.
Just insist on getting closing docs several hours before closing so you have time to totally understand them.
And most title companies will answer any questions you might have.

Piggy backing on this thread. My tenant wants to buy my townhouse in Houston, and I'm inclined to sell. What's the best way to find a fair price for it? I am not looking to run the price up, as we both win if we can come to an agreement without realtors taking a cut.

Is there an easy way I can check comparable recent sales in my neighborhood?

If she's going to get an appraisal for her mortgage, will they actually give a fair value on the place? Should we use that as a baseline for negotiation?

Honestly, I just want to walk away from this home with both sides happy, and I don't know where to start. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Not to hijack the thread, but Herschel, what makes you interested to sell to your tenant? In a position where I want to make an offer to my landlord, but am unsure of how to approach him. (I can provide an email if you want to discuss off this topic.)

Robin & Herschel.
There is a website called propstream that investors use to gather details on houses. You can watch a YouTube video and use the 7 day trial and gather info and transactions on every house on the street. You can run comps within a .25/.5 mile radius. It's crazy the data you can get from this program. This will help you get a baseline on what it's worth.