It is time to put some warnings out there for potential buyers'. I have come across this many stories recently of disaster FSBO purchases' and felt maybe, if I blogged about this is might reach some people. As a buyer, you have great expectations and excitement when it comes to buying a home and sometimes good deals seem to come along with FSBO and in your enthusiasm and the FSBO sellers quest to get their home sold, you, as the buyers, neglect a few very important essential, key ingredients that you need to be aware of and need to take care of, before you walk into a contract that could really come back to bite you later, in this new home. Be aware that the first line of defence is getting a GOOD real estate agent. You may laugh and say, because I am an agent, I am just saying that to get more money. But this is not true, I have seen so much heartache from Buyers, Sellers, who unwisely bought from a FSBO without checking things first and ended up in a real mess.
Let me give you some examples to help you see what I am talking about.
FAMILY A, really excited to move to a new area, had a few sales that did not go through and were getting anxious to find a place. Found a FSBO, talked to their agent about it and the agent said let me do some checking. In the meantime, the buyers were so excited, they entered into a verbal agreement with the seller. The seller said he wouldn't work with an agent and he insisted on using a lawyer that was suppose to be a Real Estate lawyer. Buyers', wisely, decided to keep their agent, but only as a consultant. The Real Estate Lawyer's contract was full of holes and was grossly written. Agent advised using Legal agency purchase agreeements, all parties were in a agreement until, the Lawyer read the real estate purchase agreement and couldn't understand it. Lawyer, said it was too confusing and not understandable by the Lawyer. Actually the agreement was written very plain and made it very clear who was to do what. Problem was there were things the seller didn't disclose, nor did the lawyer want it disclosed, that were found by the agent to be seriously misrepresented. After many red flags coming up and contradication, found not being disclosed by the Seller and the Lawyer, The Buyer's agent advised the buyers to look elsewhere. The Buyers, believed, because they had a verbal agreement, that they should go forward. Against their agents advise, the Buyers did go forward and to date have had to deal with many problems concerning those red flags brought up by the agent. Moral of the story, don't take everything present by a FSBO at face value, it will come back to bite you.
FAMILY B, Buyers, new to the area, decide to purchase a large parcel of land with two homes on it from a FSBO and turn it into a successful business venture. So they invest quite a bit of money into this land and homes. The business is up and running, there are some disputes with the neighbors, etc but these buyers hope to keep it civil. Due to downturn in economy and personal disfunctions, the Buyers, now want to sell this property with the homes. They contact an agent to help them sell it. Seller's Agent starts to check into things and finds the property has not be alloted legal water rights to it and that all the water to this property is being illegally used. When these sellers purchased the property from the owners, they never checked to see if the water went with the property, just taking at face value the word of the FSBO that the water did transfer. Moral of the story, if you are told water rights go with the property, check to make sure this is in writing and recorded on the deed of trust.
FAMILY C-Buyers' purchase from a FSBO, a 1 acre parcel of land with a 3 bedroom home built in 1999, the views are spectacular and that view, sold these buyers on the home. Sellers assured them, everything to the home was in good working order, the spring, the septic, the heating system, etc. Buyers' decide to go ahead, didn't have an agent, didn't have an inspection, didn't have the septic system inspected, etc., the buyers', just went ahead and bought from these sellers in the late summer. Not too long down the road, their septic starts to stink, they can't figure out what going on, call in a septic expert, low and behold, the whole system is trashed and these buyers', have to have, the whole septic system moved and replaced. The Buyer's water is having issues, they find that the spring is good but the piping has to be replaced to the home, another expense. Fall sets in the house starts to get cold, they turn on the heaters and nothing, the heating system doesn't work, they tried the propane fireplace, it has been vented incorrectly and won't work properly. These buyers have a newborn, can't have a cold home, so they again have to purchase a new centralized heating system, for the home. The cost just kept mounting and mounting. The home now is all fixed and ready to be put on the market. Moral of the story, always, always get an inspection and get a home warranty, even with a FSBO, this will protect both parties in the long run.
The stories go on and on. BE A WISE BUYER, get an agent, they will walk you through all the steps needed to make a safe and wise purchase of you home. Otherwise, you can end up like the above stories and many more.
