THE FSBO MYTH

In today's society of instant communication such as the internet, many homeowners assume they can save money by selling their home without a real estate agent. This for sale by owner is called a FSBO. Two questions with this assumption need serious thought.
1. Are you up to the task ? Do you have the time,knowledge and expertise to accomplish your goal, if so great?
However,most the population,about 85% are not familiar with real estate transactions and prefer to have a professional handle it for them. Most buyers are uncomfortable dealing directly with sellers because of the " BUYER BEWARE " syndrome.
So from the beginning you are limiting your potential buyers to only 15%. If you decide to expand your potential buyers to the 85% who will be using a professional by offering a buyers agent commission, that will solve the problem, right. Not really, because Realtors will ignore FSBOs unless their client requests to take a look at this home, because it complicates their procedure for only 1 home, when they could show 3 homes in the time involved through the MLS system they know and trust.
So essentially we are back to the 15% of potential buyers. Who are these people? Most of the buyers seeking FSBOs are BARGAIN HUNTERS,they are searching out homes that they feel can be purchased for less than market value and they are in no hurry. They can afford to wait until the FSBO becomes frustrated and hope to take advantage of their possible lack of knowledge and inexperience in the real estate market. In many cases they will make lowball or unreasonable offers.
2. Are you really going to save money?
A few statistical facts from The National Association of Realtors,82% of FSBOs ultimately list their home. NAR stats also tell us that FSBOs that do sell, sell for 15.4% less than Realtor assisted homes. So, you will do all the work,pay for all the advertising and still may end up selling for less than a Realtor.
Call Larry or Jo Ann Thomas at 628-2903 or 545-9249 and get the price and exposure your home needs.

1st Time Home Buyers

By Jacque Lorang

1. Sit down and look over your financial situation and your goals.
2. Call a trusted lender, or ask friends and family for a reference of a good lender.
3. Gather the documents they requested and be on time to your appointment with the lender.
4. Now you know how much home you can afford, call a trusted Realtor, or again, ask friends and family for a reference.
5. At this point your Realtor should provide you with several homes that meet your price range and criteria for you to go look at.
6. When you find a home you like it’s time to write up the Buy/sell and negotiate with the sellers.
7. Once you have a buy/sell signed by both you and the sellers get your lender back in the picture.
8. While you are working with lenders, your real estate agent should be helping you schedule a home inspection.
9. Once the Home Inspection is done, your lender should help you schedule a Home Appraisal to make sure the home is worth the purchase price or more.
10. Finally you are ready to close on the home and transfer the deed from their name to yours.
11. Congratulations, the agent hands you the keys and you are now homeowners.
For more information on buying your 1st home or for a free 1st time home buyers packet to help you get started contact Jacque Lorang at 690-5277 or ablahoo@yahoo.com