Guindalf

That's got to be among the worst advice ever given on the internet! I wouldn't even THINK of buying a home without using a lawyer.

The seller will pay the agent's commission and you can often get them to pay the closing costs too (or maybe part of them).

Any fees are directed at the seller, not the buyer, except for things like home inspections, assessors and possibly termite inspections if the certificates are not evident.

There's no such thing as a poor offer and when it comes to money, I wouldn't worry about offending the buyer. If they think it's ridiculous, then make a higher offer or back out. That worry could cost you $5000 or even 10 grand!

Michael

If you like wasting money, then get yourself a lawyer. The contracts from the title/escrow company are standard contracts with a page of the summary of the costs. The title company is bonded, is usually a multi billion dollar corporation, and has a team of experts that are constantly going though state and local regulations to make sure that the contract follows those regulations. A lawyer may possibly be up on the regulations in one locality but if he happens to be from the next town over, he'll be of no use.

Both the escrow officer and your agent will go over the division of costs and your agent will handle the hiring of inspectors and give you a copy of the inspection report.

The US is not the UK where a lawyer holds an escrow account, is responsible for transferring money, and tries to find abnormalities in home purchase contracts.

Only if you were purchasing a commercial property would I recommend hiring a lawyer.

I would estimate that well over 95% of the homes purchased in the US do not have lawyers involved.

Guindalf

Sorry, but that's just laughable!

We're talking about someone from the UK who has NO idea of how the system works and they are buying the most expensive thing most people buy in a lifetime. That REQUIRES a lawyer.

Title companies are often very small outfits, not 'multi-billion dollar corporations'.

I would not try to wade through the mountain of paperwork that has to be signed without someone to guide me through it. If I'm spending in the region of $350k, then $400 for a lawyer is not a big layout to be sure everything is above board.

Michael

Then you have a poor real estate agent if he/she is directing you to a small title company. Generally it is the selling agent that recommends a title company but you don't have to accept that company and I would never go with a small title company. However if you look at the title company balance sheet, it is likely a large corporation such as First American which has assets in excess of $2 billion.

A lawyer is not going to read the mountains of paperwork for $400. He'll probably just look to make sure there is a document for each thing required for $400 since they typically charge $250 or more per hour.

I'd feel more comfortable with my real estate agent and the title officer since they see those documents on a regular basis and since very few in the US use a lawyer, he's unlikely to see them very often.

Guindalf

I'm not even going to bother to reply to that one as it's detracting from the thread and arguing with someone who is clueless is a waste of time anyway.

All I'll say is to the OP, if you feel you want to risk it, by all means, go ahead and buy without a lawyer. Personally, especially without the real estate knowledge, I would recommend against trying it.

Just remember how easy it is to make a $350k mistake by not doing things properly, and with proper negotiation, you can possibly get the seller to pay for it (or at least part of it) anyway!

Michael

I guess I must not know what I'm talking about since I've only bought a half dozen homes over the past 40 years.

Mallory

The paperwork for buying a house in CA is done in a much different way than on the east coast. It's standard practice to use a closing attorney in the East. In CA they use a notary service.

jenninedinburgh

Thanks so much for your reply. I've been doing some analysis to try and work out whether we'd take a 15-year or 30-year mortgage. Paying off earlier with a a larger monthly payment (although not significantly so) versus paying less and using the extra cash to invest in other areas. I'll need to do more research on this - but very good point you've made about the early repayment fee - I'll definitely check that out. My gut feel is that whatever we do, we need to lock in soon as rates will start to go up and keep going up for some time as economies improve.

jenninedinburgh

I believe in karma, so am probably overly sensitive about these things. I would like to pay a fair price so that both sides feel good about the deal. Given the state of things, I am just trying to work out what that fair price would be. My husband will most likely advocate taking the approach you've suggested. I can only hope that we aren't taking advantage of someone - or that we ourselves are taken advantage of by not knowing some known (i.e. some rule like offer 25% below asking as 'everyone' knows that sellers price 25% above what they'd expect to receive). I guess this is where sites like Zillow are useful as you can see a) what someone last paid for the property b) how long it's been on the market and c) what properties nearby recently sold for.

GaSte

We moved to Alpharetta 6 yrs ago and love the place.


1) Is the traffic bad in Alpharetta

Not that bad if you avoid 400 at rush hours and can live fairly close to work


2) Nice place to live and bring up a family? I've done my research on city data and it has some quite positive reviews - never hurts to reach out further and of course I know that Brits aren't prone to gloss things over

Really nice place to live, very family friendly, lots of activities for kids and nice parks. Good walking & Cycling trails (Big Creek Greenway). Getting new high end shopping area later this year (Avalon) & new city centre area also later this year. Lots of good restaurants, brand new Cinema.

3) Are there nicer areas than others? What are they? What are the best schools?

All areas of Alpharetta are nice. Milton, which is right next door is also very nice. Both have lots of good swim/tennis subdivisions. Schools are some of the best in Georgia. Milton High / Alpharetta High / Cambridge High (brand new) all very good.

4) Mortgages - how long does the process usually take? We've only had a mortgage in the UK (we recently sold that house so have a good down payment) so are a little bit clueless on the US process. We both kept our credit alive in the US and have scores over 740 - so we're good as far as that's concerned.

Can be very quick, just need a buyers agent & they will do everything for you.

5) Empty houses - why so many? I've been looking on Zillow and Trulia and see so many empty houses in our range (up to $350K). Does this mean we should make an offer much lower than what's been asked? How much lower if so?

I do not see many empty houses around here. Most decent houses are going very quickly. Inventory is quite low as compared to past few years. There are a some new builds that have started in the past few months as well.


6) Foreclosures - worth looking into? There seem to be a few, but again we know nothing about this.

You can be lucky and get a foreclosure in a good condition, but I would say most need a lot of work doing to them. The process to buy can also take a lot longer due to banks being involved etc...

7) Estate agents - any recommendations?

I can give you a couple of names if want to contact me.

8) Quality of life - your thoughts and anything to be aware of (smog, etc).

No smog, guns not an issue at all. Low crime. Some of the best schools in Georgia. It is quite an affluent area, lots of big houses, most people not from here, lots of transplants from all over the US & world. With all the IT jobs here (brands itself as "Technology City of the South"), there are quite a few Indians and therefore some very good Indian restaurants. There is a good blog you may want to read, just search for rootsinalpharetta. It will give you a good insight into life in Alpharetta. Allergies can be bad in spring (like a yellow blanket of pollen).

jenninedinburgh

Thanks so much Sounds like a great place. We are visiting soon to check it out and look forward to looking around. I definitely like it that there is an international element to the area. We would struggle if moving to an area without that.

Vimto

Atlanta is a melting pot of all nationalities given that so many multi national and major US companies have their offices here. Where I personally live I know of at least 7 different nationalities within the neigbours of just 30 apartments.
Most Atlanta Kroger and Publix supermarkets have an 'ethnic' section where you can find some British products (Bisto, HP sauce, McVities, Patacks etc.) there is a British shop with typical rip off prices if you desperately need a taste of home in Norcross not too far from Alpharetta, there meet-up groups.

jenninedinburgh

Good to know...there is really only one thing that we'd miss I believe...

Guindalf

Sorry, but while I hate the high prices, I don't think they are 'typical rip off prices' at all!

Remember that everything has to be imported from the UK and then sold on. Even the store owner has to go to the UK on buying trips and this has to be paid for. Yes, everything is expensive, but probably no more than an American-style shop in the UK that has to do the same in reverse.

WHen I went home last year, I was buying the large jar of Branston for 2 quid. The small one is $4.99 in Publix (which has much better buying power than an independent!). So, is it a ripoff or just trying to make a profit by supplying goods that people want at a much higher cost?

GaSte

There is also a British shop in Marietta Square which is not far. They will try to get anything you want.