Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Private Real Estate Sale

Well, there are any number of ways to do this. First, you can contact a real estate agent and ask if, for a fee, they will help you assemble all of the forms you need to comply with California law. This is not necessarily the best way to handle it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that real estate agents have a wide spectrum of knowledge and experience - you may pick someone who really doesn't know what they're doing. I've reviewed documents prepared by licensed, supposedly "experienced" real estate agents and found so many mistakes and problems I was shocked that they kept their commissions. Second, you can go combing through the various California Codes which cover real estate sales. A hint - many are contained in the Civil code, but you'd have to be pretty good at legal research to do this properly, and catch everything. Third, you can go to your local law library, and research real estate disclosures in a real estate treatise. The Continuing Eduction of the Bar (CEB) puts out some really outstanding treatises on real estate sales which include forms - you'd have to copy and then re-type them, but its a cheap source for forms. Fourth, I assume legal publishers like Nolo Press will have a book or several that cover selling your home, and should include forms.

Finally, you should very seriously consider having an attorney review and document the sale for you. Not one of the options above will ensure that this is done properly. With a skilled, experienced real estate attorney, you can at least be assured that the deal is documented correctly, that you have made all appropriate disclosures and that to the extent possible, you have covered your bases. The cost of doing this versus a real estate commission, or worse yet, being sued later, is extremely feasible, especially when you consider that selling real estate for most people is the single-largest financial transaction of their life. REGARDLESS of what you do, please use an escrow and title company - that is the single biggest mistake I see private buyers and sellers make - there is no excuse to save a couple of thousand dollars by trying to do the work that escrow and title do - its just not feasible.

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Re: Private Real Estate Sale

In addition to what Mr. Gibbs has said, I'd like to add:

(1) Disclosure requirements vary by locality - the county may require something special, as does mine; or thre may be local conditions (flooding, endangered species, earthquake hazard, etc.) where you are best off with someone as LOCAL as possible advising you;

(2) If you use a licensed person, such as an agent or broker, you have them - and their insurance company - to rely upon if you are sued and the insured professional committed some kind of malpractice.

(3) Real estate "lease option" agreements are among the worst for bad mistakes by amateurs. Even if you use an "excellent" pre-printed form (and I'm not saying there are any), the parties still have to negotiate terms that make legal sense and cover all the possibilities, and then transfer the terms onto the form correctly. I have seen many badly-drafted deals, and using a good real-estate lawyer for this part of the deal makes a lot of sense.

Re: Private Real Estate Sale

The only sane way to do that is to hire either an experienced real estate broker or attorney to do the paperwork. Do it yourself at your own peril - when the deal goes bad you'll end up in litigation over the details that should have been negotiated and included. There are NO such 'forms'.