A For Sale By Owner Guide To Buying Florida Property
The level of properties sold via the “for sale by owner” route has been attractive to people buying Florida property in recent years as the market has been so buoyant. With sellers avoiding the payment of Realtor fees, it seemed as if buyers should be able to benefit from lower purchase prices. But contractual details and arrangements normally dealt with by a Realtor or attorney in the majority of other sales still have to be handled, so how are they to be dealt with in the for sale by owner scenario?
The contract price is one of the first things to be sorted. A year or two ago when prices were rising almost weekly, sellers had a strong hand and buyers often gave in to ambitious owner-determined prices as a way to simply get into the real estate market.
Now it’s a buyers market, though, and getting the valuation right is what matters above all else. A for sale by owner property is no different than a Realtor listing: unless you have money to waste, reaching an agreed price that reflects current market conditions should be at the top of your list.
How do you make sure you’re offering the right price? You can check out:
* Recent sales transactions recorded on County records.
* Online real estate sites such as zillow.com, trulia.com or realtor.com
* Newspapers: read through the classifieds (Sunday or whatever is the best day for your area) and find similar homes to the one you’re looking at.
* Realtors: take a note of Realtor phone numbers on properties close to your home for sale by owner and ask them for the price of their listing.
You have no guarantee that any of these will provide information on a property that’s identical to the one you’re thinking about, but it will give you a baseline to work from.
After the price, lets now look at the other main things to consider in finding the right home for sale by owner:
1. Will you be able to work with the seller or is he just testing the market without any real intention to proceed?
2. Are you comfortable with the job of bargaining? Push too hard and you may cause him to walk away. Go too soft and you will overpay.
3. Are there other costs involved in buying Florida property and are these to be paid by the buyer or seller?
4. Can you use a standard contract or do you need to prepare a unique one for each purchase? What terms and conditions and information must be included in the contract? When does it become legally binding?
5. Other legal stuff: Do you need an attorney or will a Title Company be ok?
6. How important is it to agree a closing date as soon as the deal is agreed?
7. What remedies do you have available if the seller refuses to proceed once you have a legal contract? Are there safeguards that you can put in place to cover this?
8. Finance: how will the timing of your loan financing fit in with the contract closing date? What happens if there is a delay?
9. Repairs: who pays for the repairs that you Home Inspection will reveal?
Each real estate deal is unique but the answers to various issues that arise are specific to each individual contract. If you’ve bought Florida property before or if you know enough to cope with the process, you should be able to manage the job.
On the other hand, if you have any questions or concerns at all about buying Florida property, the usual advice applies: consult a professional. Don’t take chances with what for most people is the largest purchase they will ever make.
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