"jmcquown" > wrote in message
news
> On 7/15/2017 2:46 PM, Janet wrote:
>> In article >, says...
>>>> Sadly to say, the US loves to involve attorneys, real estate agents
>>>> (buyers and sellers agents) and all sorts of paperwork. That's before
>>>> the actual deal. Your method sounds so much cleaner and easier. 
>>>>
>>>> Jill
>>>>
>>>> ==
>>>>
>>>> I would bet yours is much more expensive too
(
>>>>
>>> Of course! Real estates and attorneys get commission for brokering the
>>> deal.
>>
>> Estate agents here charge the seller to market their property. The
>> buyer and seller both employ lawyers and pay fees for their services.
>> The buyer also pays a professional surveyor to examine the building
>> structure (mortgage lenders insist on this). In Scotland, the seller
>> also has to pay a surveyor to prepare an initial property report.
>>
>>
>>
>> Since neither of you know what the comparative charges are in the
>> other country it's pointless claiming which is more expensive.
>>
>> Janet UK
>>
> I don't actually care about how it's done in other countries. Was merely
> trying to explain how things work in the US. I know [real]estate agents -
> both buyer and seller - get approximately 6% of the selling price in the
> US. That's how they make a living. Brokering the sale between two
> parties.
>
> If an attorney is involved, which is usually the case because of
> deed/title searches, etc., they also take a cut. The fact of the matter
> is it can be quite expensive to buy (or sell) a house.
>
> There is such a thing as FSBO (For Sale By Owner) in which there might not
> be agents involved. But there are still codes which have to be met before
> someone can buy a dwelling to live in. That's when the county gets
> involved. And the lawyers.
>
> Getting back to the point, it's usually the seller who fixes things up
> before putting the house on the market. John is putting the cart before
> the horse.
You can certainly buy a fixer upper as is but you wouldn't spend money on it
until you owned it. You can also rent to own or make arrangements with the
owner to do work or have work done and take the money off your rent. But
none of these things apply here.