Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefoot
Perhaps you already have a home in mind and have negotiated a good price. If so, congratulations. If not, a word of warning. There is a reason why most homes end up being listed through VLS or MLS and selling with an agent.
FSBOs are traditionally often overpriced because the owners set their own value without the benefit of looking at existing sale prices. And owners usually feel that their home is a castle and over value improvements they've made. Often, it is when the owner looks at comarable sales with an agent that an owner realizes the truth about market value.
Good luck with your purchase.
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I've never liked the argument about the value of a realtor being the asking price. For example: Let's say that I think my house should fetch 400K and I ask 415K but the comp value is more like 380K. So it doesn't sell fast enough so I bring in a Realtor who says to list it at 385K. It then sells for 380K minus the 23K in commission for a net of 357K? Never made much sense to me. If it were only about comps then you can easily get this info on the internet in today's world.
Now I'm not saying there aren't good reasons to hire a Realtor. To me the other benefits (mostly peace of mind) justify the commission but setting the initial price (assuming the home owner isn't an idiot) should not be the main selling point of choosing an agent.
But this is hijacking the thread so back to the question that was asked. I would think that buying a home that is listed FSBO is a great idea. You know what you want to pay and you're not going to be talked into a higher price just because the FSBO owner didn't know how to set the price. Just contact a good closing attorney and home inspector before signing on the dotted line. I've sold one/bought one house by myself and it worked out great.