Buying a Home without a Realtor
Most people can’t even think of buying a home without hiring a real estate agent first. On average, every year only 10-20% houses are sold without the realtor service. Buying a home from someone who doesn’t have an agent to represent them is known as “unrepresented”.
However before buying from someone unrepresented, you should be careful. They may have no clue what are they doing in the first place, or may be trying to take unethical advantages. Either ways it is going to be problematic.
The first reason an unrepresented seller shows is that they are not willing to spend money behind an agent. However, this is totally wrong since a good agent can keep your side of the deal intact, in your favor. So, the payment you make will most of the time gain you more benefits, in comparison to the cost.
Realtors, using their experience and skillset, can easily locate FSBO properties below the average price. This is good for you as you will have to spend less. Moreover, the possibility is quite high that the seller is trying to keep certain things out of your knowledge. For example, there might be some defects or other faults that they do not want you to see. So, not hiring a real estate agent is ultimately a risky business.
If you still persist on go shopping for a home without a realtor, you should follow the tips below, to be safe.
- Before making a final decision to buy a home from a seller directly, ask them if they may allow you to assign your real estate agent to represent your case.
- The seller may agree to pay a commission to your agent. In this way you won’t have to spend a penny. You must ask this. If it’s not possible, here are some things that you can do:
- Before making a final offer, look for pricing list of comparable homes. In active list the prices are most of the times worthless and don’t indicate any value at all.
- Always keep a plan “B”. There should be a way out in case you are not willing to proceed with the contract, without putting your deposit at risk.
- A home inspection is must. Instead of hiring someone randomly, ask around for someone reputable.
- In order to review the whole contract and get advice, consider hiring a real estate lawyer. Unlike agents, real estate lawyers are not expensive. A lawyer will on average charge you $200-$500 only.
- Either you have to buy a title insurance policy, or the seller has to pay for it. Get a clean title free from encumbrances and liens.