The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: bsp on January 18, 2013, 01:10:15 PM
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I've been searching for investment properties on my own--without a real estate professional.
I'm fine to schedule the various inspections myself but I'd like someone who knows what they are doing to look over the closing documents to make sure everything is in order.
Comments on whether that's a wise thing to do are expected, but I'm mostly interested in where I'd find someone to review everything for a fixed rate. Should it be an attorney or an independent realtor? I'm in Denver if anyone has specific people to recommend.
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I think having a real estate attorney (NOT a realtor) review all documents is a very good idea. He/she should be able to advise you throughout the process at their hourly fee. Only a lawyer can provide legal advice. Sorry, I don't have any recommendations in Denver.
Have you bought property yourself before, or with an agent? If not, I highly recommend having someone very knowledgeable assist you. An experienced real estate investor will be able to provide advice that an attorney cannot, such as whether the property is a good investment, likely costs for repairs/upgrades, negotiating tactics, etc. If this is your very first time, I would get a buyer's agent since they're basically "free" to you and not the seller (yes, you could generally negotiate away the buyer's agent fee if you don't employ one, but that's not typical for most home sales).
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Ask other investors in the area for recommendations after you join your local REIA group. Barring that, ask title companies for a recommendation. Ask a few, and you'll start to see the names of the good ones pop up more than once.