Home for sale by owner also known as For Sale By Owner (FSBO) homes is when homeowners directly sell their property without involving a listing agent. In this process, there is no middleman (the agent) and you can remain in direct contact with the seller, who can give more detailed insight into the house.
While homes for sale by owners, are quite common, two important considerations need to be made in the process.ย
By HomeLight Homes
Considerations to make
- Forming the contract: The first thing to understand is that the contract for FSBO home sale will need to be drafted either by your agent or a transaction agent you will hire for the process. If these two options are not possible, then you will need to draw up the contract yourself.ย
- Conducting inspections: You should never buy a FSBO home without a home inspection. Without a realtor overseeing the process, your seller may not disclose issues in the house. An independent home inspector, therefore, can give you the assurance that the house is free of problematic defects.ย
To help make buying a FSBO home easier, it is best to keep these considerations in mind along with following a 5-step process.
The 5-step process of buying FSBO homes
Here are the five steps involved in closing an FSBO home in Spokane without much hassle.ย
- Mortgage pre-approval
The first step in the process of buying any home is getting pre-approved for a mortgage. This will help you secure the loan easily when the time comes. Yet another benefit is knowing your borrowing limit, which can help you decide on a safe budget for your house hunt. Then, based on this budget, you can narrow down the list of houses and suitable agents.ย
- Finding a buyerโs agent
Buying a FSBO home means having no experienced agent overlooking the process. As such, you need to protect your interests through a buyerโs agent, who can help you wade through the waters of the real estate market in Spokane. Since the seller is most likely to formulate the sale agreement by themselves, having an agent by your side can help you ensure the sale is fair.ย
- Inspecting the house
Your chosen realtor is most likely to arrange a showing of homes on your list. Even if you arenโt working with an agent, make sure to attend open houses. While moving to Spokane may seem like a good idea, donโt blindly choose any home. Make sure to inspect the property thoroughly to avoid any confusion later in the process.ย ย
- Make your offer
Once you find a house that caught your interest, make your offer to the seller. If you are working with a realtor, you can expect some inputs on how high or low you should bid for the house. With an agentโs experience, you can even know if the house is overpriced or not.
- Close the sale
Once your bid is approved by the seller, the next step is getting final approval on the mortgage and conducting the necessary inspections on the house. Then, you can finally sign the dotted line of the purchase agreement (do read it carefully) and close the sale.ย
Conclusion
Buying a home for sale by an owner is not very different from purchasing a property through a listing agent. However, more caution must be taken as the chances of a discrepancy, intentional and unintentional, are higher when there is no realtor overseeing the whole process. Therefore, make sure to hire a buyerโs agent and conduct thorough inspections of the house and the contract before closing the sale.ย
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