Buying A For Sale By Owner Home In Cincinnati

There's currently a shortage of homes for sale in Greater Cincinnati, and when that happens buyers often start looking places they might not normally look.

We see it a lot in some of the Facebook groups:  buyers (and agents) posting for news of homes to soon be for sale, and they'll get responses from both agents and sellers with plans to sell soon.

Who knows, one of those For Sale By Owner homes MIGHT be the perfect match.

But that perfect match comes with some risk, and potentially MUCH more risk if you don't have an experienced agent helping you.

There are some tendencies (not ALWAYS true, but often) that we see from For Sale By Owners that should matter to a buyer:

• The homes are often overpriced, and not just by a little bit. For instance, we know of a For Sale By Owner patio home about to come on the market to be priced over 10% above the highest most recent sale of a similar home.  While there may be a little appreciation, our market doesn't shift upwards rapidly. 
• The owners don't always understand the legal requirements such as the requirement to complete and provide the Ohio Residential Property Disclosure form (it's NOT optional!).
• They may sign a contract, but not understand what's in it, and then get bent out of shape when an "issue" arises.
• Some are willing to work with a buyer's agent, some won't.  And even when they do, they may misunderstand who the agent REALLY works for (and it's NOT the seller).

Don't get me wrong, some sellers operating on their own can be quite knowledgeable and pleasent to work with.  Others?  They can make the process more stressful and challenging than it deserves to be.

As a buyer, the best way to protect yourself is make sure you have an experienced buyer's agent working on your behalf.  They're going to know the pros and cons and help you avoid the hazards that come with any sale, and the potential hidden risks of working with a For Sale By Owner.

Interested in having us help you buy a home?  Just give us a call/text at 513-520-5305 or email Liz@LizSpear.com. 

Want to discuss further?  We look forward to hearing from you!

Bill of Bill & Liz aka BLiz