Buy your next home on the internet!

Is that what we are coming to?  Are there people out there who would really buy a house sight-unseen?  The proliferation of websites may have you thinking you can handle this real estate thing on your own, and maybe you can.

Here is what you need to know if you are about to list your home For Sale By Owner:

1) Be ready to work 24/7.  People don’t really care that it is after your kids bedtime to call and ask how much you are asking for your home, or that you have a job and your boss isn’t big on you taking personal calls at work.  They don’t really care that you have a big trip to the lake planned Saturday.  They want information about your house, and want to see you house AT THEIR CONVENIENCE.  I personally had two clients here recently that were interested in homes that we were denied showings for 1 time.  The people decided not to go back to the home even when I urged them to do so!  I hope that seller had a pretty good reason not to let us see the property because in both cases the buyer bought a house within 24 hours of not being able to see that one.

2) Have a good poker face.  The nice thing about having a Realtor is that they act as a buffer for you.  The other party has no idea what you are thinking.  I’ve worked with clients that were terrified the deal would fall apart, but the other party thought they were cool as cucumbers!  I tell people often that real estate negotiations are much more about people than they are real estate.  Sometimes an agent on the other side will tell me something that gives great indication as to their client’s mentality, but the good ones never let you know what they are thinking.  It evens out the power struggle.  If you are going to buy or sell on your own, make sure you don’t give any signs that show; arrogance, indifference, desperation, anxiety, hope, giddiness, etc.

3) Find out what you need to find out.  Do you know what forms and contracts to use?  What do you do if you want to buy a house and have the big screen TV included?  Will you trust the other guy to leave it, or do you need to put that in the contract?  What if something changes along the way?  Do you write a new contract?  Just make sure you know how to legally get what you think you are getting.  I could drop a whole stack of forms on you for different things so make sure you know which you need!

4) Know what to do when you have a buyer or seller!  Do you work with a title company?  Do you know anyone at a title company?  What if you get a cash offer and the people want to close in 4 days.  Do you have a contact that will make that happen for you?  My guess is you do not.  You will work with a title company who will do all they can for you, but if they need to put a rush on someone’s file who do you think they rush: Your one contract and they will probably never see you again, or mine where I bring them business constantly and reliably?  I think we know who! 

5) Be careful who you let in your house.  Every year since I’ve been in real estate there seems to be at least one story of someone being assaulted in a model home or while showing a property.  You don’t get the opportunity to do a background check on everyone that will want to see your house.  Make sure you have some plan if things go horribly wrong when someone is in your house. 

Here’s my list of “Do you”s:

Do you know an appraiser?  Do you know an inspector?  Do you know an attorney if a dispute comes up?  Do you have a list of contractors to call if you need some work done that will do it quickly and not rip you off?  Do you know a lender who will look at a Pre-Qual letter and tell you if it’s worth the paper it’s written on for no charge, just as a favor to you?  Do you have any of the above to consult if something seems out of whack to you?  Do you know what is expected of who on the contract?  Do you know how to handle someone breaking the contract?  Do you know that if a buyer backs out of a contract and you want to fight over their earnest money that you cannot show the home to anyone else while you are disputing it? 

These are all things to make sure you know the answers to or have a plan for.  As you can probably tell I really do think is better to just pay a Realtor to do all this junk for you!  Don’t trip of dollars trying to pick up dimes!  Find a good agent you like, trust, and feel confident in and let them handle this for you.

If you’re in San Antonio, TX and would like that agent to be me, let me know!  I’d love to talk it over with you.

Chris Cowley

www.ChrisCowley.com

210-389-6006