Buying first home/investment property

[Ricardo Alvarez-Malo Jr.]

Hi All,  Been wanting to get into real estate investing for a quite a while and recently been planning on buying my first home and looks like the the two might merge.  

The opportunity for my wife and I to buy her fathers house at a discounted price came up.  It needs a lot of work and we are planning to buy it, rehab it, live in it for a short time as we save up for our next home and then rent it out.

Next step is I want to meet with several contractors to get a better idea on rehab cost then finalize the purchase.

My question is about the process of buying the home without a realtor (for sale by owner) since the sale would be just between my wife and I and her father.  It's totally new to me so not exactly sure on the steps.  Do I need a real estate attorney? Title company? etc.?

Any insite/advise to the purchasing steps or any other part of the plan is much appreciated.

[Brandon Sturgill]

Yes, yes, and yes...you can't avoid it. You don't need a REALTOR to get this deal closed, but you need to do a title search and and title insurance is a good idea...that is, if you are formally purchasing the property with a "partner"...you'll have to close this just like any normal real estate transaction....especially if you plan to sell down the road.

If this were me, I would try to get creative...in this scenario, is the property paid off?...if so, have the owner originate the loan (purchase money mortgage)...you would simply pay him some reasonable down payment and then a monthly payment...just like a bank mortgage, but without the bank...

I would need a bit more detail, but this sounds like a good opportunity...is there an underlying lien on the property (a mortgage)? 

And there are probably a couple more profit centers like a HELOC if you guys are rehabbing...good way to get cash for your next property!