Home, Land, Property Buying and Selling - buying a home on contract

My husband and I want to buy my mothers home on contract. We all agree to this, and we are planning to buy it as is for what she owes on her mortgage. We want to keep this simple. This will allow my mom to walk away from it without fixing it up, and we can get it at a great price while keeping it in the family. How do we go about buying a home on contract? Can we do it ourselves? What is involved? We are all familiar with the home and don't feel the need for inspections or appraisals. Can this be done? I really appreciate any help you can give me!

Since you are all in agreement, you should spend the money for a real estate attorney to draw up the required contract. You could probably find things online or some sort of service to do it, but the money for an attorney would be well spent.

Certain things like searches for liens and such need to be done, even if you don't need an inspection.

If you are financing, the lender may have requirements as well.

If there is no loan involved, all you need is a quick claim deed but as noted above, it's best to get a real estate attorney to handle it. Small expense now that might prevent a lot of head aches later.

I've sold several farm properties under contract, even among family members, and we always had an attorney prepare the contract. Both buyer and seller should be more reassured knowing the contract is legal and that both understand the terms of the contract. A basic sales contract shouldn't be costly -- I think the last one my attorney did was around $500. At least for the agricultural property we sold, nothing else was involved.