In the state of Louisiana, you can go the the Louisiana Real Estate Commission website for the necessary forms used in a real estate transaction. The forms can be printed and used by a seller or buyer.

Unless you are have done your "homework", I would not recommend attempting to buy a house from an owner. Real estate agents are not only trained to assist you through the process, but are also insured. Agents have experience and can foresee situations to be avoided or handled in a professional way. Even if the house is being offered for sale by the owner, that does not mean that the buyer cannot enlist the services of an agent. .

I recommend you search for an agent who will work for you. Often, an agent can negotiate the commission from the seller and you can have the representation you need for a safe and secure transaction. Even if you have to pay a reduced commission as the buyer, it can be worth the dollars spent to get the professional assistance to make the buying experience a good one.

Bonnie,
In NC you can do a deal without an agent but you need to involve someone with the training. You can have an attorney draw up the offer but, they will charge you whether you buy the home or not. Plus, not sure if they will do all the negotiating back and forth for you. Then they will have to redraw up all the documents.
Or you can get yourself a buyer's agent to represent you. The first step when I approach a FSBO home is to get a letter of commitment from the seller that they will pay my commission. Now the door is open to take care of all matters between my client and the FSBO. Now yes they may give you a little lower price to not have an agent but, to have someone watching over the complete transaction, doing all the paperwork for both sides, and they will be working for YOU!
Now if you need a top agent in your area feel free to contact me through my profile here on Trulia or through one of my other websites listed below.

Hope this helps,

Hi Bonnie,
You can do any one of those option that you've mentioned. You can have a realtor act as the transaction agent, and assist you with preparing the paperwork. Or you can also contact your attorney to draw up the paper as well. As far as the commission or fee to do this it would depend on if the seller if willing to work with the realtor or you would need to find out how much the attorney would charge to act on your behalf.
As a side note, you can also go online to several FSBO (for sale by owner) websites, where you can get legal document of all the paperwork that is needed to put the offer together, and then perhaps have someone look them over or walk you through it. Hope this information is helpful.

Dottie @ Keller Williams Realty
dnaab@kw.com

Since realtors work as "agents" to a party in the contract or as an agent to the transaction, they are usually compensated as a result of an agreement with one of the parties though the auspices of their "broker." Additionally, if you hire a realtor, who is going to pay him for his services?
Since you already selected a home, you should probably hire an attorney to prepare a written offer on the property and to follow the transaction through to closing.
Let;s face it, if you're going to be spending a significant amount of money on the purchase of a real property, you should be willing to spend a relatively small amount of money in order to make sure it goes through from start to finish.
Moreover, if you think that there is going to be any negotiating with regard to the acceptable sales price, you will need to determine who will do that negotiation, you or the attorney.
As a realtor for over 23 years, I think it's a good idea to have an intermediary whenever you negotiate. It gives you a cushion. The other party can request something and the negotiator (whether a realtor or attorney) can always say he'll discuss it with you and get back to him....
Best of luck and make sure to get everytning in writing and read everything carefully before you sigh it.
Art David
Coldwell Banker Naples Florida http://www.Naples4u.com