Writing Your Own Real Estate Contract

I talked to a friend the other day who wanted to buy a house from someone without a realtor. Both her and the seller were hammering-out a price and had felt that they could both save money in realtor fees. This is very true, but if you want to make sure you do it right make sure you get some help first.
There is a website that you can use as a guide to see what kind of language is included in a real estate contract. You can see samples of blank forms here:
http://www.trec.state.tx.us/formslawscontracts/default.asp
There are several important things in the contract that are designed for your protection and the other parties. If you go down this road, do me a favor and make sure you consult an attorney to review your agreement. Please do this because the $500 or so you spend is far less than what a potential lawsuit can cost.
After you have an agreement and both parties are happy, take the paperwork to a title company. A title company is kind of like a referee in the sense that they make sure the title is clean and that it can be insured. You don't want to get a knock on the door one day from someone's long lost son or daughter telling you to get out of their house. Title insurance helps prevent against that.
Next, get your inspections from authorized persons ASAP. Make sure that you hire someone who can tell you about the things you can't see in the home like the plumbing, insulation, structural and mechanical systems. Those things are so important. Most inspectors will generate a very detailed and lengthy report-generally around 9-10 pages or so. Before you hire them, check to see that their reports include photographs of the problems. Some do, and some don't but if you have pictures it is way easier to fix.
Lastly, please make sure that you are qualified to by the home. That means that a bank has preapproved you and all they are waiting on is for you to close on the home. Your offers hold a lot more weight when accompanied by a preapproval letter, and there won't be any last minute scrambling on your part to come up with the money.