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Presale Home Inspections: Who Pays?

Dec21
2009
2 Comments Written by Carrie

houseinspection

Last year, the Buy Owner Blog discussed the ins and outs of a presale home inspection and why it is important in the sale of a home.

A home inspection is an examination of your home done by a professional home inspector using professional standards to discover the condition of how your home’s systems appear and operate. You will most likely want to be around when the inspection is taking place so you can discuss any questions you have with the inspector and see what areas of your home will need work. After the inspection, the inspector will give you a written report.

However, there is one burning question that has not yet been addressed: who pays for the presale home inspection?

  • Sellers may pay for a home inspection in order to determine whether or not there are problem areas in the home and if they can be fixed prior to putting the home on the market. It is also a good incentive for a potential buyer to find out that the home has already been inspected. However, sellers are by no means required to obtain a home inspection.
  • If a buyer is interested in a given property, and the condition of said property has not been assessed, it is then up to the buyer to pay for a home inspection.

In the end, neither the seller nor the buyer is required to have a property inspected. A home inspection is just a tool to evaluate the condition of the home. A prospective buyer may be turned off if the house has visible flaws and a seller has not paid for an inspection. However, if the home appears to be in good shape, a buyer-purchased home inspection may reveal underground issues unseen by the naked eye.

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged presale home inspection, seller, who pays
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Do Your Homework When Negotiating With a Seller

Dec15
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

Shaking Hands

After combing through hundreds of listings, you’ve finally found your dream home. Now that the search is over, you are about to start the most tense, nerve-racking part of the whole home-buying process: negotiating the sale.

Before you decide on a price you’d like to offer, do your homework. There are a lot of things to consider before you just throw out a number and hope for the best.

  • Is the home overpriced for the market? If you are unfamiliar with the community in which the home is located, you need to gain an understanding of the sales in that area. See what comparable homes are going for and check out the prices of houses that sold within the last three months.
  • Find out why the seller is selling. Need a change of scenery? Looking for a bigger/smaller home? Relocating for a job? If you find out the reason behind the sale, you can gauge the amount of time the seller is willing to spend negotiating and closing. If the seller doesn’t have to move right away, he or she has the luxury of waiting for a better market. However, if a quick sale is needed, serious offers (even if they are lower) may be accepted.
  • Don’t simply wait for the price to be reduced. You may lose out to another buyer who put in an offer that you would have been happy to pay. Begin the negotiating process right away and try to reach a mutual agreement.
  • Don’t make your final offer your first offer. Start low and give yourself room to move up pricewise. If you start with the absolute highest you are willing to pay and the seller doesn’t budge, you’ll end up paying more than you want, or you may not even get the house at all.
  • Use bargaining tools. If you don’t need to take possession of the home right away, offer to rent the home back to the previous owner after closing (at a reduced rate or even free of charge). This could sweeten the deal and allow you to make a lower offer that the seller would be willing to accept, even if he/she wanted a higher price. Another good idea is to bring a lender preapproval letter with you. If you make an offer and sellers see that you are qualified to buy, they will take your lower offer more seriously.

Buying a house requires more than simply finding a property and suggesting a price. It is a long process that takes some research, especially if you want the most bang for your buck.

Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged buying a home, closing costs, making an offer, negotiating with a seller, overpriced for the market, seller
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Understanding Real Estate Commission

Aug31
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

couplequestion

With Buy Owner, you pay NO commissions. Period. But if you wonder what this means exactly, we’re here to help. Understanding real estate commission can be a bit confusing and may warrant a lot of questions. When do you pay? Who do you pay? Who pays: the seller or the buyer? While commission rates vary, depending upon how many real estate agents are involved, the sale price of the house and other negotiations, here is a general explanation as to how commission works.

When do you have to pay a commission?

If you sell your home using the help of a real estate listing agent, you may have to pay commission. The agent works for a brokerage that has the exclusive right to market your home, thereby attracting buyers and requiring a commission for all of his/her hard work.

If you use a real estate selling agent to help you buy a home, you will most likely pay commission. Why? The agent is doing the legwork for you, finding potential homes for you, bringing you to them and showing you the ins and outs of each of them. Also, the commission is almost always worked into the sale price of the house.
With Buy Owner, whether you are buying or selling, there is no commission, ever!

Who pays: the seller or the buyer?

Sellers will only pay the commission if they sign an agreement with the brokerage and the selling agent, stating they will do so. Sellers tend to do this as part of an incentive to sell the house quickly. However, the buyer usually pays the commission, as it is typically represented as part of the sales price.
By buying/selling Buy Owner, you won’t have to pay commission, ever!

Who do you pay?

Remember, there are two different agents at work here: the listing agent (for the seller) and the selling agent (for the buyer). However, you don’t pay the agents directly, since they work for a broker. All fees go through the broker to be split between the two agents. While the split may be equal at times, the market also plays a factor in the amount of commission each agent receives. For example, in a buyer’s market, the selling agent will receive a bigger commission than the listing agent. However, this is not under your control. You just pay the brokerage and enjoy your new house.
With Buy Owner, you don’t have to pay a broker commission at all, ever!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged broker, brokerage, listing agent, real estate commission, seller, selling agent
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Welcome to the BuyOwner.com Blog, your source for regularly updated market information!

Founded in 1984, BuyOwner.com® is the leading provider of real estate marketing services. We pioneered the "For Sale by Owner" (FSBO) market, which today represents over 20 percent of all residential real estate transactions.

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