Going to do FSBO. Anythink I should watch out for?

Question

I know its a horrible market, but with starting a new family, we have run out of room in our condo...It's time to get a house. While doing some research, we found that having a realtor will end up costing us 10-15,000. So we've opted to go FSBO. I understand with this means we'll have to pay the buyers realtor 2-3%, but that is better than 6. My question is...is there anything I should watch out for with FSBO? There is a catch to everything, so has anyone done it and had great success?

Answer 1

We bought our first house in a FSBO deal.  We had an agent, but didn't not have any kind of contract with him, so he was just SOL when we found the house we eventually bought all on our own.  (Obviously, he wasn't doing his job!)

When we sold that house, it was also a FSBO deal.  We didn't have to pay anyone anything.  The buyers didn't have an agent as far as I know, so it worked out great.  

We then bought our current house as a FSBO.  So, we've never really used a real estate agent for anything!  I worked for an attorney who drew up the necessary contracts each time we bought and sold.  

My biggest advice to you is to get a legal contract drawn up when you do sell for you and the buyer(s) to sign.  It is so worth every penny.  When I worked in an attorney's office, I saw "contracts" people wrote themselves and they were terrible!  There would eventually be a conflict or dispute and it took A LOT of money to straighten it out via the legal system.  All because the parties involved were too cheap to pay an attorney to do it right the first time around.

Answer 2

Hire an attorney to watch out for you and your interest. First thing you need to do is fill out a seller's disclosure form.

Find a realtor that will charge you a flat fee to list and he will take care of all the little details. - Ceteris Parabus.

Answer 3

get a very good re atty with a very good engineer.

Answer 4

With so many houses on the market today, what chances do you have selling on your own?  Are you prepared to screen  potential buyers? Are you prepared to be available to show the property at anytime?  Here is a tip, look up this website before doing anything.  http://www.realtor.org and click on "Home Buyers and Sellers".