Today I was setting next to a home owner who has really gotten herself in a pickle.  She purchased her home last spring with her boyfriend from a home that was being sold without an agent.  What a lot of us Realtors call FSBO's.  They bought a spacious home in the Lewiston Orchards and moved in with their 5 children.  Not long after the family moved in they had found out that the homes septic system was bad.  I asked the homeowner about the disclosure?  She said that there was nothing said about the septic system.  The seller had told her that it had been recently pumped....come to find out that it wasn't, and that the septic service company had just paid them a visit...

Can you imagine a family with 5 children that has no working toilet!!!  Not to mention that they were not able to do laundry....

Well, they homeowner had to hook up to the public sewer by way of the neighbors yard...which we are still trying to find out if he will give them an easement for it...I won't even go there...that is a whole new blog topic..

Here's the real heart breaker...a couple months after the couple purchased the home, the boyfriend commits suicide.  The woman can no longer afford the home and is heading toward foreclosure and would love to sell the home, but there is a big glitch..since they were not married, the boyfriends interest in the home reverted to his family.  His family is mad at the girlfriend, blaming her for his death and won't sign off on the home to let her sell.  They are happy to see it go into foreclosure. 

I'm sure all of you agents out there see the problems that could have been avoided when they bought the home, but for all of you who are not Realtors and thinking of buying a home, possibly a home that is not listed with a Realtor, I will explain how things should have been done.

#1- The buyers should have asked the seller to have the septic fully inspected and pumped.  The seller would have to provide proof of this along with a septic report.  When the problems showed up on the report, then the buyers could either have the seller fix these problems, or back away from the deal.

#2-If you are not legally married it is a good idea to think of how you want to take title of the property.  In this case, they should have bought as Joint Tenants so if something was to happen to either of them the property would revert to the surviving partner.

She told me that she would never think of purchasing a home without a Realtor again. 

Did you know that if you see a home that is For Sale By Owner, generally most welcome a buyer with an agent.  Many offer compensation to a buyers agent.  If they do not, and you absolutely have to have the home, there are ways to have your agent involved.  If they say absolutely no Realtors, then you have to wonder if they are hiding something.  It is for your protection.