Realtors are beneficial for many reasons, they provide objective information and opinions, expanded search power, and ethical treatment. But what they charge is not accepted by many buyers.
If you are wondering whether it is possible to buy land without the help of a realtor, then the answer is “absolutely yes” By reading this article, you will be able to understand the whole process of buying land without a realtor.
8 Steps To Buying Land Without A Realtor
1. Get a Pre-Approved Mortgage
The first essential step to buying land is getting Pre-Approved for a mortgage. It saves your time and ensures the seller that you are a qualified buyer. It also determines how much land you can afford. Thus, with a pre-approved mortgage, all the land transactions will be constructed without any interruption.
2. Hire a Real Estate Attorney
When buying land you need to negotiate the deal, maintain paperwork, and represent you at closing, and for this to go smoothly you will typically need an attorney. Many states in the US don’t allow you to execute real estate transactions without the involvement of an attorney. Whereas in New York, it is within your legal right to buy land without an attorney but it’s highly suggested.
Even a minor legal mistake can cost you a huge amount of money and time. Therefore, it is highly advisable to hire a real estate attorney when buying vacant land.
3. Search for Vacant Land
As a land investor/buyer, you have to do research on each specific property that piques your interest. Don’t solely rely on seller-provided information, strive to perform all the necessary homework required as you’ll be advocating for yourself.
As with our properties, we’ve clearly state on each of our properties that “It is the buyer’s responsibility to intend to complete the purchase by doing your due diligence, researching the title and confirming the property listed is actually the one you want to buy before putting in an offer“ . Plus we do our best to provide local contacts within the “Property’s Detail” to help you start in the right direction.
4. Get the Proper Seller Disclosure
Land sellers have to disclose safety, structural and other issues with the buyer. As a potential buyer, it’s your responsibility to check for a disclosure on the property’s listing page or obtain the disclosure and verify that the land can be purchased. As an example with our properties, we’ve clearly state on each of our property listings that “ This property has been discounted from being sold “AS IS” without any warranties or representations of any kind or character, express or implied, concerning the property.“
5. Make an exclusive offer and Negotiate
For establishing a realistic offer over the desired land, it is necessary to review the price trends within the neighborhood and negotiate accordingly. After obtaining the data from some recent sold properties that are comparable to the one in question, a lawyer should be hired for managing legal documents. Having a lawyer experienced in land transactions is extremely important because buying land is not the same as buying a home.
Offers and counter-offers hold more than a simple purchase price. These include the inspection period, closing costs, list of the fixtures, and other conditions settled by both; seller and buyer. So, whenever you’re making a deal, be wise with the offer and consider all the values before putting down any figure.
6. Search the Title
One of the most important components of due diligence is to search the title. It verifies using a title company that land is free from all the obligations and marketable under the given title. Besides title search, proper due diligence should be conducted with every land purchase. To provide information about due diligence, we have written an article here!
7. Get a Land Inspector
What land inspectors do is “ spend several hours at the location of land and point out any potential issues”. Because they are professional and experienced in so many issues regarding land, they provide a well documented land report in a timely manner.
8. Closing
At closing, you have to check whether everything is ready for you to take possession of the property. Typically, an attorney will request at closing that you provide your ID with preferred method of payment (check,cashier’s check or wire transfer), including closing costs.
If you are wondering “who pays closing costs?” You can check this article!
