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Talk to me about buying a house/land FSBO


BlueTaelon
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What should I be aware of beyond get an inspector? I'm looking for something rural and hopefully one of those deals where I make the payments to the current owner rather then a bank. Is there some kind of formula for figuring payments? Do they generally charge interest like banks? Any tips/links/suggestions welcome! The only thing I do know is I want something with an existing well and power. Thinking maybe a small parcel (acre or so) with an old beat up trailer already on it (saves me tons of money since I don't have to pay some insanely $$$$ building fee for the 1st residence on the land, can't remember what the fee was called but I found out about it when my parents got hit with it building on their land) then I can yank it off the land and put what I want (planning on building a container house or a yurt).

 

I know of a couple who got several acres with a run down trailer (which they are staying in while saving for a year to build) on it for dirt cheap ($15k) complete with working well and power. I'm hoping to do the same. I've never bought a home/land so its all new to me.

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Get a real estate lawyer to handle the documents and the closing (and possibly even the negotiation). Usually this involves a relatively small flat fee.

 

I would never buy real estate without a real estate lawyer reviewing the docs.

 

If the current owner is the lender, of course they probably would charge interest.

 

The fee you may be thinking of is the water tap fee. Is there a water tap? Would it need to be upgraded for a house? Sometimes that necessitates a new water tap fee to be paid.

 

Sometimes there is a sewer fee or other fees. You might contact a local builder to ask about ballpark figures for fees. Check the county and town websites - this info might be there. Do you have a realistic idea of how much it costs to build the sort of house you want? We are in a metropolitan area, and the water tap fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the total building cost.

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Get a real estate lawyer to handle the documents and the closing (and possibly even the negotiation). Usually this involves a relatively small flat fee.

 

I would never buy real estate without a real estate lawyer reviewing the docs.

 

If the current owner is the lender, of course they probably would charge interest.

 

The fee you may be thinking of is the water tap fee. Is there a water tap? Would it need to be upgraded for a house? Sometimes that necessitates a new water tap fee to be paid.

 

Sometimes there is a sewer fee or other fees. You might contact a local builder to ask about ballpark figures for fees. Check the county and town websites - this info might be there. Do you have a realistic idea of how much it costs to build the sort of house you want? We are in a metropolitan area, and the water tap fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the total building cost.

 

 

Well aware of the costs involved in the construction. No tap fee's, the only public utility in the area is power, everyone is on wells, has ponds (only 1 person in the area has an actual septic and thats my parents, its never been allowed until recently), and propane. This is a really remote area. I'm more worried about the costs of construction of my green house then the actual house since I know thats a long term project that will be built over a couple of years lol:) (we can live in the green house (1256 sq ft) if we have to while we build the house since the thing will have power, heating and plumbing) I'm sitting here laughing, my green house will go up before my house lol:)

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Also make sure of title insurance. We have a land contract with dh's grandpa and we had to go to the county abstract office to have the papers drawn up and for the title insurance. We are paying 300 a month on 27,000 (2 acres, 2 bedroom mobile home with septic and well, natural gas)

 

 

 

I'd love to hear more, do you pay interest? Any advice on finding my own land like that?

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We do pay interest it's at 7.5%. We rented our place for 5 months before we decided to buy it (dh's grandpa also wanted us to, to make sure there wasn't any major problems) I would suggest talking to people in your area that rents out mobile homes ( obviously not at a trailer park). Dh's grandpa started selling his due to age and he just doesn't really want to deal with renters anymore. He has asked all of his renters if they would like to buy thier home on land contract. Our payment even with homeowners insurance is cheaper than what we paid for rent. Also ask people who you think only rent out regular homes or people who specialize in renting to low income families you never know what you can find :) oh and you will have much better luck looking in rural areas that are kind of economically depressed and/ or about an hour from any large city/town. Like I live about an hour north of Bay City, Saginaw and Midland. But live in Tawas City and about 20 miles from West Branch (you can find jobs in Tawas and West Branch but the better paying ones are in Bay City, Saginaw, or Midland)

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We bought a FSBO home 2 years ago. We are in a suburban neighborhood, and have a traditional mortgage through a bank. The seller has a son who is an attorney, and we had an attorney represent our interests on our end. I will say, the two of them went back and forth and it was more painful than many of our past transactions, LOL. This was the third house we've purchased. This time I spent time finding the pickiest inspector possible based off of word of mouth recommendations. He was a little more, but that's so worth it, IMO. The extra $100 or so he cost as compared to previous inspections we've had where we were naive enough to just go with the realtor's recommendation was money well spent. For what it is worth, we didn't have problems with our previous homes, but I do see the value in a very picky and careful inspector. Even if you are okay with living with some of the issues and closing the deal, it is far better IMO to know what you are up against. This guy also did a very nice job of suggesting things he would improve over the next year, two years, three years, etc. even though they weren't urgent. DH is quite handy but found his tips, suggested maintenance, etc. very helpful.

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