# Making an Offer on a place thatâs for sale privately



## Pheasant283 (Mar 24, 2010)

Wife and I are looking at a place that is for sale privately and not listed through a realtor. The guy selling it put an ad in the local paper advertising it. My question is how does a person go about submitting an offer? I have bought a house through a realtor before, so they presented the offer and had all the paper work in-line. So privately do we just throw a # out to him he says yes or no?? & then someone like his lawyer will write up the offer and purchase agreement? Just curious if anyone else has purchased land privately? We need to act, before pheasant season starts and all the out of state hunters come, cause more than likely one of them will snatch this little place up.


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## Smalltowngirl (Mar 28, 2010)

Use an offer to purchase form. Here's one that's a sample as well as the one for South Dakota, some are free & some must be purchased for only a few $$. 
There's many more online for you to choose from. I searched Google using the term real estate offer to purchase then South Dakota offer to purchase forms.
Make two copies after they're filled out, send one by certified mail to the homeowner and keep the other.
Good Luck

http://www.massrealestatelawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/standard-form-offer-to-purchase.pdf

http://findforms.com/single_form.ph...Purchase_Real_Estate_Real_Estate_South_Dakota


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

We bought our present house about twenty years ago direct from owners after seeing an ad in the paper and going to look it over on a Saturday. The family selling it had an appraisal copy and their asking price. I made an offer to them face-to-face verbally, telling them I could raise the full price to pay outright with no bank mortgage involved. My offer was only maybe $1500 under the asking price and they accepted verbally fairly quickly, maybe by a phone call that evening, maybe on the spot, I really don't recall exactly.

At the closing at a title company, they told us another party who'd been interested had instantly offered a couple thousand more than the asking price when told it'd been sold, but the seller was honorable and just told them "sorry, I've made the deal already." So, sometimes it can be done the old-fashioned way BUT that depends on both sides being stand-up folks. Having written forms is a lot more secure.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Pheasant283 said:


> Wife and I are looking at a place that is for sale privately and not listed through a realtor. The guy selling it put an ad in the local paper advertising it. My question is how does a person go about submitting an offer? I have bought a house through a realtor before, so they presented the offer and had all the paper work in-line. So privately do we just throw a # out to him he says yes or no?? & then someone like his lawyer will write up the offer and purchase agreement? Just curious if anyone else has purchased land privately? We need to act, before pheasant season starts and all the out of state hunters come, cause more than likely one of them will snatch this little place up.


You would be wise to utlilize a RE Attorney or a Real Estate Agent. That is to insure you miss nothing on the paperwork. If you want the ball in your court, you do that. If the Seller has the Contract drawn up, it should be read very carefully, and reviewed by an RE Attorney.


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## NamasteMama (Jul 24, 2009)

i wonder why you would want to live in tucson at all? Not exactly a great place to live. What about finding a nice property outside of town?


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

NamasteMama said:


> i wonder why you would want to live in tucson at all? Not exactly a great place to live. What about finding a nice property outside of town?


***********************************************
_*BUT*_......couldn't find a single reference to Tucson or even the state of Arizona in _* ANY *_ of 
the other responses. Do you think it's possible that you've responded to the wrong thread???


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## rickfrosty (Jun 19, 2008)

Pheasant283 said:


> Wife and I are looking at a place that is for sale privately and not listed through a realtor. The guy selling it put an ad in the local paper advertising it. My question is how does a person go about submitting an offer? I have bought a house through a realtor before, so they presented the offer and had all the paper work in-line. So privately do we just throw a # out to him he says yes or no?? & then someone like his lawyer will write up the offer and purchase agreement? Just curious if anyone else has purchased land privately? We need to act, before pheasant season starts and all the out of state hunters come, cause more than likely one of them will snatch this little place up.


Pretty common now to get a realtor to work FOR YOU as a 'buyer's agent' taking their commission from seller . That broker would have all standard froms including the 'disclosure' sheets seller is required to give you even in a private sale covering all aspects of water supply, waste disposal, heat, age of roofing (leaks ?), foundation (wet ?), lead paint ?, time owned, date home built - lots of pertinent stuff.
I'm a realtor in ME & states are pretty similar now.
You'd still have a lawyer do a title search (going back 40 yrs.) after you had made agreement w/sellers. Any problem w/title could give you an 'out' & you'd get your earnest $ deposit back.
Another reason to have a licensed realtor working for you - his agcy. would hold your deposit during pending period of sale.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

rickfrosty said:


> Pretty common now to get a realtor to work FOR YOU as a 'buyer's agent' taking their commission from seller . That broker would have all standard froms including the 'disclosure' sheets seller is required to give you even in a private sale covering all aspects of water supply, waste disposal, heat, age of roofing (leaks ?), foundation (wet ?), lead paint ?, time owned, date home built - lots of pertinent stuff.
> I'm a realtor in ME & states are pretty similar now.
> You'd still have a *lawyer do a title search* (going back 40 yrs.) after you had made agreement w/sellers. Any problem w/title could give you an 'out' & you'd get your earnest $ deposit back.
> Another reason to have a licensed realtor working for you - his agcy. would hold your deposit during pending period of sale.


+1! I am a Managing Broker, in WA.

If they utilize a Buyer's Agent, they won't need an Attorney. All sales should go through an Escrow CO, 3rd party, who most often holds Earnest Money, here anyway. On all forms, the Earnest $ is either held by the Buyer's Broker's RE CO, the Listing Broker's RE CO, or held by Escrow (my preference). Also, the Title CO does the chain of title search. Escrow insures the Sale is Recorded, CRITICAL! This is Public Record and insures the property cannot be mortgaged by a Seller after it is sold. 

I have seen some real nightmares occur when purchases were just done by private parties with seller financing. A family member of mine made payments faithfully, only to find out the Seller mortgaged her home without her knowledge, and it was lost in foreclosure (the sale wasn't Recorded).


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## StatHaldol (Sep 1, 2006)

Last year a guy at work found a pretty good deal on ten acres for sale by owner. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Are you going to use a RE agent or an attorney?"

Guy at Work: "I don't need no stinking real estate agent with a two hundred dollar bouffant in a Cadillac or a shyster lawyer in a shark skin suit to help me buy a piece of property! I can look a man in the eye and shake his hand on a deal and it's as good as done."

Me: "Are you going to at least get a title opinion?"

Guy at Work: "Why do I need that?? He knows what he owns!!"

Guy at Work pays $50,000 in cash to the owner. Turns out the "owner" was one of seven heirs to the property and didn't even own the land.

"So, he can get a lawyer and sue!!" you say? 

Yes he did; do you want to take a guess at how much money he had left after attorney fees? :bored:


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

StatHaldol said:


> Last year a guy at work found a pretty good deal on ten acres for sale by owner. Our conversation went something like this:
> 
> Me: "Are you going to use a RE agent or an attorney?"
> 
> ...


+1 The "Guy at Work" made a big mistake and you gave excellent advice! That is a sad story. It is soooooo important to have a Title Search done, have the sale Recorded through the County. An RE Agent or Atty at the beginning would have saved him so much $ and all the consequences that followed.


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## quietstar (Dec 11, 2002)

Good Evening: It is the usual custom in most states to allow good Real Estate contract forms to be available in office supply stores or online. This is when you must focus on due diligence to make the transaction both safe and satisfactory to you as Buyer. Not a bad time to law up.

Without knowledge of finances or the property size and improvments, there is nothing more I can offer...Glen


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

quietstar said:


> Good Evening: It is the usual custom in most states to allow good *Real Estate contract forms* to be available in office supply stores or online. This is when you must focus on due diligence to make the transaction both safe and satisfactory to you as Buyer. Not a bad time to law up.
> 
> Without knowledge of finances or the property size and improvments, there is nothing more I can offer...Glen


This guarantees only that a contract is used, will do nothing to assure the Title Search is done (Title Ins CO), Title Insurance issued, and the sale Recorded with the County (Escrow insures this), Earnest Money protected (Escrow or RE Broker insures this).


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