<prompt> Human: My spouse and I have been renting a house for 18 months. It was gutted and completely renovated just before we moved in--everything from drywall, flooring, and appliances to the roof and furnace were installed new within the last 2 years. The owners live in our very small town, and we are friendly with them. They have offered to sell us the house for the appraised price minus 6 realtors fees if we dont involve realtors they have a side business flipping houses and have always planned to sell this house at the end of our lease in six months, either to us or someone else. I know that the general PF advice is to be very wary of houses for sale by owner, especially with first-time buyers like us. However, we have lived in this house for 18 months and know it better than the owners themselves. Should we still get a realtor to guide us through the process? If not, who, if anyone, would you suggest we hire to help with the homebuying process? I have an attorney sibling who will review all of the contracts and paperwork, but I realize this might not be enough. Thanks for your help.  <response>: There will be a few steps that youre required to go through for financing, like a full property inspection, and the appraisal you already mention. In this day and age, there are so many legal protections in this process that you should be fine.Only thing I would be wary of is if the owner tells you that the only way they will sell to you is if you go through their bank, their inspector, their title company, etc..I had a great experience with - they handled the appraisal and title company, I picked a top rated inspector in my area - was all pretty simple.Get a loan estimate from your current bank, get one from 2 other sources - you should be fine in the long run. 