Before you decide to buy or sell a home that’s off the market, you should first take the advice of a professional mortgage advisor. It’s a common scenario: somebody knows somebody thinking of selling their home and decides make a good offer before the property is listed on the real estate market. Both the prospective buyer and seller should make sure they know what they are doing, or serious issues may arise.

A Realistic Buying and Selling Price

“How much do you want to sell for?” – “I don’t know – how much are you willing to offer?”

Likely neither of you knows the answer to these questions, so what next? One potential solution is for each to hire an appraiser to value the property and for you to agree to take the average of the two appraisals. However, there is a problem with that, because appraisals may not reflect the true market value of a particular piece of real estate in your neighborhood.

Perhaps a realtor could offer a more realistic price. So you agree to that: a real estate agent will likely have a better idea of what similar properties are selling for in the area, and might even be prepared to offer a discount for handling the sale. Or perhaps not!

The Legal Aspects of the Sale

Once the two of you have agreed on a price, what next? If you intend to buy or sell a home that’s off the market you cannot simply hand over cash and receive the deeds – or vice versa! There are certain legal procedures that must be followed, and you could hire an attorney to do that between you, sharing the attorney for the selling and purchasing processes.

There is a great deal at stake here, not only making sure the sale is legal and binding, but also that the price agreed is being paid. Not only that, but such sales are often between friends or even family members, and there is friendship at stake should things go badly. So what should you really do in this situation? What are the best steps to take to buy or sell a home that’s off the market?

What Are You Thinking

You, as the buyer, might be thinking that you could get a better house for the same price elsewhere. As the seller you are likely thinking that you could get a better price on the open market. While this seemed like a great idea at the time, possibly saving a great deal on official costs and charges, maybe the higher selling price or lower buying price would have taken care of these costs.

The buyer and seller will likely have that little voice inside saying, “What would this sell for if it was advertised properly?” This little voice in your head is possibly making you wish you had never started, but you don’t want to stop the process in case of causing a problem between you and your friend or relative. Unknown to you, they might be feeling the same!

Buy or Sell a Home: A Possible Solution

One solution is not to go this route in the first place, and to tell your friend or relative where to find the advertisement for your home – or if you are the potential buyer, avoid seeking favors, because buying and selling a home is not generally a process where favors should be sought. The seller might need as much as he or she can get for their home in order to finance the purchase of their new home.

There are too many downsides to this type of ‘friendly arrangement,’ both personally and legally. If you are both determined, then sure, you can discuss a price that is acceptable to both of you, but then get the professionals involved. A good real estate agent or mortgage advisor will help you to come to the best price for each of you, and then walk you through the rest. That is how to buy or sell a home that’s off the market and remain friends.