Real Estate Question

The main purpose of a REA is to bring buyer and seller together.

As a FSBO if you brought a REA into the deal Id likely do one of two things.

A. Require you pay all of the REA fees and not accept 1 cent less than my asking price.
or the more likely,
B. Throw you off my place for being to stupid to be allowed on it.

B isn't just a facetious remark , Id wonder about someone both rude enough to try something that's obviously against my wishes and suspect them of the kind of ignorance that Would have them suing because the creek has water in it or the trees have branches that fall ,et.

Something else to remember is a REA is ALWAYS working for the seller , I think that's actually pointed out in state law here.

Rea are not needed. My wife and I bought a home from Fsbo. We called a lawyer paid a few hundred to him abs a coupe hundred to title company and it was done. Saved tens of thousands. I love fsbo and would do again in a heart beat.

bill,

that's a non sequitur. first, i don't know or care about the money a seller spends. i don't sell land.
"...if listed." in this case (the original question) it's not. it's a for sale by owner deal. money spent by somebody else is none of my business. you're thinking like a salesman.

I walked away from buying a property one time because the listing agent was just insistent that I contract with her to be the buyer's agent too so she could negotiate me the "best price" with seller. I told her to take a flying leap--I was paying her 3% out of my pocket.

When I am the buyer it only takes one person, me! When I am the seller it only takes 2 in NC, me and the wife. I find my own buyer/customer. I make more transactions than most individuals. As I made these transactions and the observations thereof I have come to have little confidence in realtors and inspectors. IMO, both are after their own interests, commissions and fees.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Whether you need a real estate agent or not depends on what you are doing. When I sold my apartment building I listed it with a real estate agent because it got on the MLS and the agent handled all the showings.

When I bought the place I am living on now, I had a lawyer friend print up a boilerplate quit claim deed and some other form. My cousin, the seller, and I filled them out and took them down to the county court house and filed them. I paid cash. No commission, closing costs, fees, mortgage fees, or any other charges except one to file the paperwork with the county.

I could have bought my new piece of land without a real estate agent representing me but the seller was using one. I had found the piece of property by myself and again paying cash. Since the seller was paying commission and all the closing costs, I contacted a friend who is a real estate agent and let him be my agent. My friend got the buyer's agent's half the commission for making the offer and sitting in on the closing. I think we played the system on that one.

The powers that be have made it very complicated to buy or sell property so the average person thinks they have to use a real estate agent. Also, when you sell a property there are a bunch of people who want to get a cut of the proceeds. I refuse, as much as possible, to participate.

No, realtors are not allowed to close loans in Ky without permission from the lending institution... but... As an agent of my sellers I was always present at the real estate closing (protecting their best interests) and after the first time or two I began requesting copies of the documents for my revue prior to any closing.... It saved lenders the embarrassment of having to rework their errors at the closing table. Same with having to have errors in the deeds corrected prior to closing day. It also saved me the uncomfortable waiting in the closing office with attorneys doing their best to disrupt the sale unintentionally with their "expertise". I found it best to let them do their job, and only their job, when in the presence of buyers and sellers. Same with bankers.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Just curious. When I bought my current house, the listing agent didn't even bother coming to the closing. Once I signed the contract, they went MIA as far as that transaction was concerned other than they once emailed me to see if I had closed yet.

So you accepted a quit claim deed and "some other form" as your only "proof of ownership" to the property you are living on now? Unless that other form was something similar to a general warranty deed you dont have much by way of proof of ownership. That in itself should explain the need for paying the pro's their fees in a real estate transaction. I would never have let any of my clients or customers do something like that to themselves.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Off the top of my head, without knowing the details, you bought property from someone who had listed with a mighty poor agent... they do exist but usually not for long.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

That's simply not true. A quit claim deed conveys any interest that the grantor might have to the grantee without warranty. A quit claim deed makes no claim at all about what interest the grantor might have, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has no interest in the property. A quit claim deed is nevertheless a valid and legal conveyance.

A warranty or grant deed doesn't prove title anyway. It makes a promise of title, but grantors usually won't provide a grant or warranty deed without a title policy. It's the title policy that actually guarantees title.

Quit claim deeds are appropriate for intra-family transfers, such as divorces and for when people get their estate in order for end of life. Quit claim deeds are also used when real property is lost in a lawsuit. Quit claim deeds are also commonly used to convey easement rights. The point is that when you aren't getting anything for conveying the property aren't going to want to guarantee title. In those situations your lawyer will recommend a quit claim deed.

But the suggestion that there's something not quite valid about a quit claim deed is absolutely false.

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Wow, the second time in 6 years that I have agreed with Nevada.

I took ownership of an investment property with a QCD in the mid 80's. Had no prior interest in the property, did my own title work and the paper work to assume his VA loan.

Sold it inn 2007 with no issues.

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Mortgage Underwriters

I never said anything about a quit claim deed not being valid.... just that it lacks a lot in the way of protecting someone from other claims to ones property. I can legally give you a quit claim deed to the Brooklyn bridge.... doesnt mean much since I have no legal claim to said bridge. A warranty deed on the other hand states clearly my legal interest in a property, where that claim derives and holds me legally accountable to back up those claims if contested. "IF" his cousin indeed held full ownership of said property when he transfer that holding.... then he gets it... but thats a big if when dealing with the public at large.... believe it or not when I say there are some walking among us who lack the morals and ethics you and I have.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

My sister kept getting out bid on property.
Someone told her about a house that was not listed nor did it have a for sale sign.
She spoke to the folks, made an offer, they accepted.
She did almost all her own paperwork.
She did need her lawyer for a couple of papers but spent nothing compared to what a realtor would have charged.

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I've been running in circles and think I can see myself up ahead!

Yeppers, lots of folks do just fine bypassing "the system".... But lots of folks dont... As I mentioned to Nevada... not everyone holds to the same standards when it comes to honesty and ethics. Thats where professionals come in, lawyers, title companies, REAs and other professionals really do provide a lot of risk management.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

Yep, that's correct.

But, wouldn't a title search verify ownership?
legally accountable???????? If you sell something you don't own aren't you legally accountable? Wouldn't title insurance cover the buyer in this case?

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Mortgage Underwriters

If you got title insurance then you're covered. Title agents wrinkle their noses at quit claim deeds, but if the chain if title comes up clean then it's fine.

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When I lived in remote Arizona I saw a lot of mineral rights conveyed by quit claim deed. Out there they (incorrectly) call them quick claim deeds.

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Maybe. Some title insurance companies hate quitclaim deeds in the chain of title and will write an exception contingent on the ownership.

Sometimes it is easier to get a distant relative to sign a quitclaim deed than a warranty deed. Say the last recorded deed was in great grandma's name, grandma and mom lived in the house and now you want it and need some distant cousin who has never heard of you to sign off on it. They might be more comfortable with a quitclaim deed because for all they know, they might not actually have any interest in the house.

More importantly, what if you and your neighbor both own your houses and your neighbor's deed is based on a plat showing his property line runs ten feet into what your plat says your property line is. Hopefully you and your neighbor can just agree to where the property line will be and each quitclaim to the other any land you may or may not own on the other side of the agreed upon boundary line. Just because the deeds may be valid, they may be based on defective surveys, so what you own may or may not be what is shown on the deed. You may own some of what you think you do, all of it, or more than you realize.

Of course on the Title Insurance.......................

Honestly, I don't think a warranty deed is any better or easier to do a search on than a QCD.

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Mortgage Underwriters