So You Want to Buy A For Sale By Owner Home
So You Want To Buy A For Sale By Owner Home? (FSBO for short)
The seller will tell you: "Let's skip the Realtor and save both of us a little money, heh?" So He/She puts a sign in the yard. It can't be that hard.
You and the spouse will drive around and drive around Vancouver WA and Clark County and call lots of professional listing agents off of the signs trying to find the perfect home. You might even commit to a knowledgable real estate agent to show you homes, open doors.
So then you and the spouse come driving by...and there's that telltale FSBO sign sticking up in the grass.
You knock on the door and tour the home, all the while talking and gabbing to the home owner. What a nice person! (That person is listening and garnering mountains of information from your most innocent comments like, "we have a home in Arizona." That tells the FSBO owner...YOU HAVE MONEY TO SPEND ON HIS/HER house!! (An agent has a fidicuary commitment to protect your best interests and doesn't reveal this kind of $$ about you.)
So you want to buy a For Sale By Owner home? (FSBO for short)
Should you put your earnest money into escrow? Will you be able to get it back easily if something goes wrong? Will it have to go all the way to court to get even some of it back?
How do you know the For Sale By Owner home is priced correctly? Will you be paying way too much?
Did you receive any "Seller's Disclosures" to protect you later if you have to go to court about hidden damage, water under the house, mold or a sewer or sidewalk assessment coming through?
Are you getting a loan? What kind of loan should be the right one for that FSBO home? Will it appraise at price? Will the seller agree to lower their price when it doesn't appraise? What if the seller won't sell at the actual appraisal cost...can you afford to lose the money you paid for the inspection?
Who will negotiate your inspection terms?
And, about your earnest money....?
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