Buying a Charlotte Home for Sale by Owner: 3 Reasons You Need an Agent
Why on earth would you want to hire a real estate agent when you’re buying a Charlotte home for sale by owner (FSBO)? You may have a common misconception that real estate agents can’t work for you if you want to buy a FSBO. That’s not true at all.
Real estate agents can represent your best interests when purchasing FSBOs, just as they do when purchasing homes which are listed with a real estate agency. You get the same exact service from your real estate agent, whether he or she is helping you buy a traditional Charlotte home for sale or a FSBO.
Here are three benefits to working with a Charlotte real estate agent when buying a FSBO:
1. The biggie – It could save you thousands of dollars
Most people typically consider buying a FSBO because they fall in love with the house, not because it’s a great price. In fact, the vast majority of FSBOs are priced at or above the actual market value of the home. Why is this? Home owners are novices at pricing homes, their information is typically out of date, or found online, which is highly inaccurate. These sellers either don’t have access to the sales prices of all homes in the area or they don’t have the technology needed to accurately process the data. Many FSBO sellers interview real estate agents and think that the agents are simply too far from their desired price and decide to go-it on their own. As well, some have even been turned down by real estate agents because they cannot successfully sell their homes at the seller’s expected price.
When you hire a real estate agent, you gain a considerable advantage over the seller when negotiating the price. Agents are experienced negotiators, and they have the sales statistics to support their requests.
Some proponents of selling your Charlotte home for sale by owner argue that you’ll pay more because you have to pay the agent’s commission. In this buyer’s market, all homes including FSBOs take longer to sell. If a homeowner is serious about selling, and the home has been on the market for a while, the seller will most often agree to pay all of part of the real estate agent’s commission.
2. Keep a handle on your sanity.
Sellers have emotional and personal attachments to their homes. They frequently take it personally when buyers want to negotiate. Without an agent, it’s you and the seller pitted against each other. Emotions often flare, which could prevent you from getting the best deal possible or could cause you to lose the opportunity to buy the house altogether. Many buyers will also ‘cave’ to the demands of the seller–after all, they’ve got something YOU want!
3. Is this legal? All legal issues and paperwork will be handled by your Charlotte real estate agent.
The process of buying a house is quite complex. Your agent will guide you through the entire process including the negotiation, inspection, re-negotiation (based on findings during the inspection) and closing. He or she also will make sure all legal issues are considered and handled appropriately, and all paperwork required to buy the home is properly completed.
When you think about it, as a Charlotte real estate agent, I’ve sold hundreds of homes. Most home buyers have purchased fewer than 5. Even if you’ve purchased 5-10 in your lifetime, chances are you haven’t done so in the past year. Things change. Documents change. The law changes. Have your own representation when buying a Charlotte NC For Sale By Owner–you’ll be glad you did!
If you’re interested in buying a home, whether or not it’s a FSBO, I’d like to help you. Phone me at (704) 491-3310 today or email me at Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com for more information.
Originally posted at www.iCharlotteRealEstate.com
(THE best Charlotte home search available - no kidding!)
Debe Maxwell, CRS/Realtor®/Broker
Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com
Phone (704) 491-3310
Number one is the biggie.... We all need representation when buying or selling real estate. Thanks for posting.
Very good article that you have written Debe - Nicely directed to both the buyer (beware) side and the Seller side.
Suggested and heartily endorsed! Liability and risk are major factors for buyers considering a For Sale by Owner property. And arriving at an appropriate offer price would be very risky without the advice and counsel of a professional.
Great article Debe! So true!
Hi Debe, An excellent post and you covered the subject very professionally and made a clear case for any buyer to have representation in every Real Estate purchase, which includes FSBO's. I will suggest this post.
Another great blog by Debe Maxwell! Thanks, and look for a re-blog and suggest!
Hi Debe - this is a fantastic post and I completely agree with all of your points, especially number one - saving you thousands of dollars. If I was not in Real Estate, I would not purchase the home without a qualifed Realtor.
Good job. Not to mention you will guide them thru the inspections, the negotiations, the mortgage process, and making sure it will meet appraisal.
Hi Debe,
As usual you have written an excellent post. I'm sure many consumers will read this post and understand clearly why they need to give you a call to help them make their next home purchase :).
My broker visited a home owner getting ready to go into foreclosure. He had paid cash for the home, from a for sale by owner...Previous owner failed to mention there was a HOA...so the current owner had paid no dues for a few years..the HOA foreclosed on him.... GET A REALTOR!!
Debe - These are three EXCELLENT reasons why homebuyers need to hire an agent to handle their purchase.
Thanks everyone and thank you so much for the re-blogs too! Sherry, I am always amazed that people would even consider buying a FSBO. I have a dear friend who knows someone who RAVED about her great deal doing a FSBO--Week one: Honeymoon week--no Realtors® to work with, no red tape, just cash and done!
Week two: Finding little problems--OOPS, didn't get an inspection but, after a week, everything SHOULD have surfaced, right? Still only about $1K out-of-pocked to make these 'little' repairs. No biggie.
Week three: Terrible rain storms hit the area. LOTS of drainage and water issues all around but, for this poor buyer, a flooded crawl space AND leaky roof caused incident after incident to arise.
Week four: At the end of their first month there, they had to replace the roof, including flooring in the attic space because of water damage. The water also got into the furnace located in the attic and thankfully the roofing contractor had discovered this as the weather was mild enough that they did not need their HVAC at all during this time. They had to replace the furnace. The killer--when they had the waterproofing team out, they discovered that the crawl space was FILLED with black mold! Thousands and thousands of dollars to treat just the mold, not to mention the grading and drainage system that will be required to keep water out in the future.
It's a sad, sad story and one that we certainly hate to hear. Had the buyer only contacted an agent, NONE of this would have happened. In fact, the black mold discovery would likely have swayed their decision to purchase the home altogether. She's now seeking the advice of an attorney but, this is costing her money that she does not have. But, she did sign an 'As Is' waiver so, it's doubtful that she'll recover one red cent.
Buyers seldom consider that the seller may have actually been turned down by an agent to sell their home because of reasons you share above.