FSBO- Again

[DCJenn]

I know some of the masses have sold their homes FSBO, has anyone ever purchased a FSBO home?

There's one for sale in the 'hood (by a doctor of course) and it's sitting empty. Since we're still stuck in our legal/housing situation, we're really in no place to even start to look. But, my husband has his head in the sand and is gallavanting around San Antonio with visions of Victorians in his head.

So, has anyone done it, or head of anyone who has done it? I've not heard great things about the process from either side so I'm curious.

Jenn

[Sheherezade]

Didn't twinsmom sell her house FSBO? That's my memory.

I know a family here that has bought their last 2 houses FSBO. If you'd like me to check with them, let me know. Now that school is starting, I know I'll be running in to the mom.

[Michele]

The house we bought here in Louisiana was being sold by owner, but we had a realtor working for us the buyer. It seemed to work out fine from our end. Russ might pipe in and give a better account since he did all of the dealings.

[KCwife]

We bought a FSBO. We had no realtor on our end either. I loathe realtors. What do you want to know?

[DCJenn]

KC Wife-

Exactly what did you do prior to the sale? How did you research prices per square foot, etc? Did you get an inspection done? How did you negotiate things that need to be fixed, etc.

any and all details would be great!

Jenn

[KCwife]

KC Wife-

Exactly what did you do prior to the sale? How did you research prices per square foot, etc? Did you get an inspection done? How did you negotiate things that need to be fixed, etc.

any and all details would be great!

Jenn

Two words: Tax records. Most counties have GIS maps that are accessible to the public via a public information act. With this, you can usually find the list of purchase prices and tax values for your home and those around it. I came armed with info on when houses sold, their sq ft, and how much. Also, try to get access to the MLS...this is good for comparables. This helped a great deal in negotiations. i.e., "Well, I know what your neighbor paid 6 months ago...and I know what you paid 2 years ago."

Next, we put several contingencies on our offer. Such as inspection (which amazingly is not required in GA) not coming back with more than $5000 total in repairs. We also negotiated a higher purchase price with seller contributing up to $5,000 in closing costs. This eliminated last minute stresses about "Oh shit, we can't close." We also put other things in our offer such as "window treatments, fridge, appliances, pool accessories and chemicals, etc”. We had a closing date, and that seller was responsible for hiring a real estate attorney/title company to do the closing 30 days before we closed. The attorney’s office takes care of the rest. The mortgage company also took care of a good portion of everything such as the appraisal. After all, it is in their interest for everything to come through.

Basically, make sure that your buyer is pre approved. I had a letter stating that we already had our credit checked, and our assets verified and that there was no reason to believe that we could not close. Also, check the laws in your area in regards to earnest money. Because it is supposed to be held towards the closing, it can get sticky if it does not close. The laws vary by state. I furnished a check post dated to the closing date, made out to the seller...I also furnished a letter from my bank stating that I had sufficient funds. I felt this would be much simpler if the inspection or appraisal did not come through.

I will write more as I remember...hope this helps!

Don't know much about this, but my dad was a realtor for a while. His good friend just recently bought a house FSBO. He warned his friend of possible loopholes they can get through if they don't want to be honest. Well they bought their home 2 months ago, recently had flooding in the basement just to find out they didn't disclose the problems they had with the basement or the repairs it had. They now have financial problems because of they now of course have to fix the basement.

Not sure if it's more helpful than a realtor by my aunt and uncle sold their house through and angency that took 2% of the sales to do paper work for them. My aunt and uncle had to do all of the showing themselves. So it's kinda like forgoing the realtor but still getting the legal stuff done right, or so that's how it was made out to me.

Sounds like getting educated about it all is the key, GL Btw my inlaws live in San Antonio - there are some beautiful homes.