House FSBO question

[MindyD]

We are in the just looking stages of considering buying a house. I found one that I'm actually really interested in, but it's FSBO. We'll get an agent when the time comes, but is that usually a problem for people selling their own house or would they rather the buyer not have an agent? It's been on the market for 436 days so it's been awhile. What do you think?

[Happy]

Many FSBOs are on the market because the seller doesn't want to pay the realtor commissions involved...or CAN'T pay them--too underwater. The biggest problem with FSBOs is unrealistic pricing. Many are overpriced. If the one you are looking at has been on the market over a year something is wrong. Either the price is wrong or something is wrong with the property. Proceed with care.

 

Have your agent call the FSBO and ask if he will pay the buyer agent commission. Then go look when it's all arranged.

 

Good luck!

[maddykate]

I would skip on the agent altogether and go to a title company. The title company will tell you all the things you need to have (inspections, etc.) for the sale to take place and you have saved yourself a significant amount of money.

[Scarlett]

I would not be afraid to buy without a realtor. In fact I have bought without an agent and had no problems.

 

I also sold a house on my own and a realtor brought me a buyer and I agreed to pay her 3%.

 

[MindyD]

It seems to be priced well. We think the location might be the issue. It's in the country. This area was flooded with foreclosures and new neighborhoods keep popping up everywhere. Most people want new homes in brand new subdivisions, but that's not what we want at all. We can't really buy until the summer, so I shouldn't even be looking. Still, if it's been on the market this long, it might still be there in the summer. I can hope!

[vonfirmath]

It seems to be priced well. We think the location might be the issue. It's in the country. This area was flooded with foreclosures and new neighborhoods keep popping up everywhere. Most people want new homes in brand new subdivisions, but that's not what we want at all. We can't really buy until the summer, so I shouldn't even be looking. Still, if it's been on the market this long, it might still be there in the summer. I can hope!

 

 

Take that time to really look at it. Are there other houses that have sold in the same area as that house? If so, why isn't that house selling? If nothing is selling in that area, there might be some news event/something else that is causing the area to be undesirable. And that could affect you when you go to sell.

 

Or, of course, perhaos the house is just sitting there because you are meant to buy it!

 

but being on the market for over a year is a huge sign that you need to investigate and understand the reason why clearly.