Definitely. I am going to hire an attorney ($650), property inspector ($500), and title company ($1,200), and that is about it.
I've purchased two homes and I'm confident I can handle the paper work involved. I mean, most of the paper work is the attorney's and title company's anyway. The realtor is basically inserting himself in between those companies and then relaying that information to the client. In my case, my realtor was copied on all communications, but that is it. I was the one producing all the documentation, signing agreements, reading reports, following up on inspections, etc.
And I had one of the top Keller Williams agents in my state. The guy is known by everyone.
I can't make sense of paying someone $20,000 to say, "Let me know if you have any questions about the inspection report"; or to tell me, "I wouldn't buy this. There's moisture in the basement. There's a leak in the ceiling. The patio is not level." etc. I'm knowledgeable enough to see things like this, and if not, my inspector will educate me on it and identify issues.
I've heard people say realtors can point out issues like a leak in the ceiling, like you mentioned, but they're not inspectors and the good ones are quick to admit that they're just offering their untrained opinion. That's good, but I don't know if it's worth $10,000 when for $400 a bonded inspector will look at everything, crawl around in the spider zone, take pictures, and give me specific advice.
Interesting. I wish there were more resources for this stuff. Even though I have a good agent and will continue to use her, I'm always interested in how to DIY things, even big things like real estate.
I'm curious why you're paying for an inspector, though? Wouldn't the buyer want to hire their own inspector? Are you just looking for issues that the buyer might complain about? (My experience is that an inspector will _always_ find things that the buyer can use to negotiate the price down.)
I was under the impression that the title company was also chosen by the buyer (or their agent). Although they generally expect the seller to pay for, well, almost everything.
If the buyer is using an agent, I assume you're not paying the buying agent's 3%, right? I wonder if that would dissuade some buyers.
