ASAP!NEED ADVICE! 1st time home buyers through seller financing!!

[Delilah S.]

In the process of buy a home (1st time) and were doing it through seller financing and we just received the installment agreement papers from the sellers attorney. Do we need to get our own attorney? or how does it work? The papers are CONFUSING! thanks!

[Dave Poeppelmeier]

You absolutely want an attorney for you (never the other party's attorney) to review everything. The usual two ways is by giving the Seller a Mortgage and Assignment of Rents or receiving an Land Contract. A Mortgage is your typical agreement saying you're going to pay $X and the seller gives you the Deed with the right to Foreclose if you don't pay . A Land Contract is when you pay for the home and you receive the Deed once you have fully paid for the home, and if you stop paying you get nothing. There's nothing wrong with either one, but just make sure you know what you are agreeing to. If you don't know who to go to regarding an Attorney, contact your local REIA or other Investor Group and someone should be able to refer you to someone who knows what they're doing. DO NOT just call a number off Google or the Phone Book. Many attorneys say "I know all about Real Estate!" but really they don't. Great job though on finding a deal with Seller Financing! That's not very common but great for you as long as your numbers work.