California Flat Fee for Sale by Owner (FSBO) or Attorney Closing Assistance: Full package for … Read More
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FSBO: Why do I need to use an Attorney?
For Sale by Owner (FSBO): Why do I need to use an Attorney? Why can’t I do it myself with forms I find online or that are given to me by my friend who is a real estate agent?
We are sometimes asked why a seller who is attempting to sell their home on their own needs to hire a real estate attorney and/or a real estate agent. They wonder if they need a lawyer or attorney to help with a For Sale by Owner sale in California.
The simple answer is an obvious and resounding yes. I have heard and seen too many horror stories of things gone wrong when a seller who is not sure of the steps and process to sell their home does so without any legitimate guidance. Any seller needs someone in their corner when selling real estate in California. I would not let any of my family or friends sell a home on their own.
Having the documents prepared, reviewed and discussed by a real estate attorney is the only safe way to buy or sell real estate in California. Especially when it is a For Sale by Owner transaction as the litigation rate for these transaction is much higher than that of standard sales when a seller does not have the right representation.
Full Service For Sale by Owner Package
I offer a full service legal package for sellers/buyers includes legal contacts, including purchase agreements, negotiations, counter-offers, amendments, addendum, and required and necessary disclosures to make sure that the parties are adequately protected from liability. The package also includes full lender, escrow and title coordination including reviewing the preliminary title report, escrow instructions, closing statements and escrow amendments, working with escrow and staying on top of all contingency periods and timelines with the different parties to make sure the closing happens in a timely manner and in accordance with the contracts. Lastly the package also includes legal advice regarding estate planning and how title to the property should be held.
Real estate law and transactions involving real estate property in California are complex and even minor oversights can have significant consequences even years down the road. Given the major increase recently in California real estate prices and a tight inventory this means that sales activity is happening more quickly than usual. This quick pace often means that complications, oversights, errors and mistakes are happening in the agreements, the process, contracts, escrow instructions, especially the For Sale by Owner sales done without real estate attorneys.
Buying and Selling Real Estate is Not That Simple
Buying and selling real estate is a large investment and important decision; it is foolish to attempt this process on your own without the right representation. The right representation is an experienced real estate attorney and real estate broker with hundreds of transactions of experience under their belt. For the reasons mentioned above buyers and sellers should not simply rely on themselves or real estate brokers or agents alone to prepare documents and provide advice on the legal aspects of the transaction. Real estate agents and brokers do not have the same training or experience as a real estate attorney in the legal and liability aspects of the transaction and legally they are prohibited from counseling you on what the contracts mean, how to fill them out and of course are prohibited from giving you any legal advice.
Experienced For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Real Estate Attorney
I have provided advice and guidance in California for all types of real estate sales and escrows in both commercial and residential real estate, negotiated hundreds of short sales, facilitated many successful for sale by owner sales, assisted and advised on short sale and foreclosure maters, as well as review and preparation of California purchase agreements, offers, counter-offers, addendum, disclosure documents, escrow instructions, co-owner, investor, joint tenant, tenancy in common, community or separate property, quit claim deed, real estate disputes, quiet title, easement, fence and boundary line disputes, etc.
Highly Rated and Experienced California Real Estate Broker Attorney and Lawyer handling For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Real Estate Sales
Please call, email or use the contact form on the right today to schedule a complimentary attorney consultation. The For Sale By Owner (FSBO) service is provided electronically and by phone, so I can efficiently serve clients in any California county – presently I am accepting clients throughout Northern and Southern California. With substantial legal and real estate experience, I am able to provide value where most agents and attorneys alone simply cannot, this is the benefit of hiring an experienced real estate attorney who is also a licensed and practicing real estate broker. This is a combination that is hard to find but important to have on your side.
What if I Can’t Find a Buyer?
Finding For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Buyers
Often a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) seller already has in mind who they want to sell their property to. It may be to the tenant who loves the house, or to a friend, relative or neighbor. In this case as soon as you have your buyer give me a call so we can get started on the rest of the process and make sure that everything is handled appropriately and legally. Especially if you have a personal relationship with the buyer you don’t want the relationship going south if anything should happen with the transaction or should there be any issues with the property. Selling a home regardless of who the buyer is is a major undertaking.
If you do not have a buyer in mind and if after giving it your best shot at selling your home with my suggestions for how to market your home on your own as For Sale by Owner but are unable to find a buyer I am also a licensed real estate broker and can handle the marketing and legal aspects of your listing for you should you need the assistance in procuring a buyer.
I charged a reduced commission much lower than what most agents can charge because I have my own brokerage. If you have paid any funds to me already (for example if you started out with me as a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) with a buyer but it didn’t end up working out for whatever reason) I apply the funds already paid to the commission I would have received at the close of escrow. You still end up saving money over using a traditional agent and I will take over handling the marketing of your property like a full service real estate agent would as well as facilitating and handling the legal documents and close of the transaction just as I have described above. It is a win-win situation for you, if you find a buyer you save money, if you need my help finding a buyer you still end up saving money.
Highly Rated and Experienced California Real Estate Broker Attorney and Lawyer handling For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Real Estate Sales.
Please call, email or use the contact form on the right today to schedule a complimentary attorney consultation. The For Sale By Owner (FSBO) service is provided electronically and by phone, so I can efficiently serve clients in any California county – presently I am accepting clients throughout Northern and Southern California. With substantial legal and real estate experience, I am able to provide value where most agents and attorneys alone simply cannot, this is the benefit of hiring an experienced real estate attorney who is also a licensed and practicing real estate broker. This is a combination that is hard to find but important to have on your side.
Disadvantages of For Sale by Owner
Unfortunately there are more disadvantages than advantages to selling your home For Sale by Owner (FSBO) if you do not have the proper representation in at least some capacity on your side. Those who attempt it on their own without any assistance at all, do quite often fail…either in finding a buyer, getting the price they want, actually closing escrow or being sued later down the line for improper paperwork, missing legally required forms, not disclosing issues, repairs, conditions, etc.
1. There are too many people to negotiate with
Here is a list of some of the people with whom you must be prepared to negotiate if you decide to For Sale by Owner (FSBO) on your own without any assistance.
- The buyer or cash investor who wants the best deal possible and is hoping that you are unprepared and uneducated to simply take advantage.
- The buyer’s agent who solely represents the best interest of the buyer and is seeking typically 3% commission. In addition you will be contacted by the buyers transaction coordinator who will be requesting a lot of information and legally required forms from you, but who cannot provide these for you or assist you in completing them.
- The buyer’s attorney (in some cases)
- The home inspection companies which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems with the house and then give outrageous bids for repair costs to allow the buyer to ask for a credit for repairs to get the sales price down.
- The appraisal ordered by the buyer’s lender as a condition to the loan.
- The title company and escrow officers and assistants
- The buyer’s lender and loan officer and any assistants
2. Exposure to prospective purchasers
Not being on the MLS will decrease your exposure to a lot of potential buyers. Most of them are not searching independent For Sale by Owner (FSBO) sites. However if you put your home on the MLS even through a cheap service that does not offer you any assistance you are then contractually obligated to offer a commission to the buyer’s agent of typically 3%. Buyer’s agents may avoid a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) listing and may block their client from seeing it as they see it as more work and liability for them if you are not represented in some capacity. Plus they are obligated by a fiduciary interest to serve the best interests of the buyer, not to you the seller.
3. Selling For Sale by Owner and keeping in legal compliance has become more and more difficult
The paperwork involved in selling and buying a home has increased dramatically as industry disclosures and regulations have become mandatory and lawsuits have become more commonplace. This is one of the reasons that the percentage of people selling For Sale by owner has dropped dramatically over the past few decades.
4. You will become a target for many agents who cruise For Sale by Owner listings
You will be surprised to find that they will call, knock on your door, email and mail you information trying to get your listing. They will try to talk you out of selling your home on your own and will try to convince you that paying 6% is something you should do right now. That may or may not be the case, but if you are close in terms of what you owe vs. what your home is worth, if you don’t trust that agents have your best interest at heart or if you are trying to maximize every dollar it certainly doesn’t hurt to try For Sale by Owner (FSBO) first, it may in fact be your only option if you do not have enough equity to pay off the loan and pay the closing costs including 6% commission.
Some agents will call and offer to send you the needed forms and disclosures free of charge just for talking to them. Be careful of this because first of all they are legally not allowed to distribute these forms to non-agents for use (it is copyright infringement), and they certainly cannot assist you in filling them out. In addition you will have no way of knowing if they gave you the most legally up-to-date or necessary forms as they do not have a fiduciary duty to you, and there is no liability to them if what they gave you are not the correct ones.
Bottom Line
If you decide to take on the challenges of selling your house on your own, due to the disadvantages of For Sale by Owner, it is crucial to have an experienced For Sale by Owner real estate attorney and broker in your corner to guide and assist you through the process and handle most of it for you, at a much lower cost which we know is important to you.
Highly Rated and Experienced California Real Estate Broker Attorney and Lawyer handling For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Real Estate Sales.
Please call, email or use the contact form on the right today to schedule a complimentary attorney consultation. The For Sale By Owner (FSBO) service is provided electronically and by phone, so I can efficiently serve clients in any California county – presently I am accepting clients throughout Northern and Southern California. With substantial legal and real estate experience, I am able to provide value where most agents and attorneys alone simply cannot, this is the benefit of hiring an experienced real estate attorney who is also a licensed and practicing real estate broker. This is a combination that is hard to find but important to have on your side.
Advantages of For Sale by Owner (FSBO)
There are a few advantages to selling a home For Sale by Owner (FSBO) and with a For Sale by owner attorney or lawyer vs. with just a real estate agent. These are highlighted below.
- Save money over paying commissions to sellers and buyers agents which is typically 6% of the sales price. Some agents are able to lower their fees slightly, but not by much and most larger and common real estate brokerages do not allow their agents to accept or offer to the buyer’s agent if they are the selling agent much less.
- With homes being marketed primarily on the internet it is more common and easier for intelligent individuals to list and buy a home without a realtor and with an attorney’s assistance to make sure the terms of the deal are solid and legal and that they are protected.
- More control for those who want it and want to direct and control more of the transaction and know that they directly represent their own best interests and not an agent who may talk them into accepting a lower price just to sell.
- You know your home and its features and the neighborhood best. You may feel that an agent cannot adequately represent or market your home especially if it is unique.
Highly Rated and Experienced California Real Estate Broker Attorney and Lawyer handling For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Real Estate Sales.
Please call, email or use the contact form on the right today to schedule a complimentary attorney consultation. The For Sale By Owner (FSBO) service is provided electronically and by phone, so I can efficiently serve clients in any California county – presently I am accepting clients throughout Northern and Southern California. With substantial legal and real estate experience, I am able to provide value where most agents and attorneys alone simply cannot, this is the benefit of hiring an experienced real estate attorney who is also a licensed and practicing real estate broker. This is a combination that is hard to find but important to have on your side.