My wife and I just moved up to OKC and found a great little house in a filthy rich area. It's way more per square foot than the cookie cutters up in Edmond and the like. The house is being sold by the owner (he and his wife our both about our age, late 20's) and we don't have a realtor up here. What types of things should we look out for when buying from the owner directly?

Go to a title company there in town and they should be able to give you a packet. You will also want to hire a lawyer to look over the paperwork for you before you sign.

Good luck.

so as a buyer i need to get a packet from a title company? the lawyer thing is no problem, i've got some lawyer friends up here

I have been appraising for 25 years. 9 out of 10 times we get an appraisal request from a mortgage company for a home that sold FSBO it comes in low.

Why would a first time homebuyer, who is moving to a new area, have a clue what the value of the property is? Why would you contracturally obligate yourself to buy something without the advice of a professional Realtor or appraiser?

Are you going to make an offer based on the owner's asking price? Even if you are able to get him/her down 10% or more, how do you know that you are not still paying 10% more than it is worth?

You better make sure that you write in the contract that if the home does not appraise, then the contract is terminated and earnest money refunded.

So someone sells their home FSBO, that's obviously to avoid paying a realtor. So Shooter, since you were maybe not meaning to be a *****, but if we hire a realtor (which we planning on anyway, we JUST moved here), who pays their commission? Are we (the buyer) responsible for our realtor's entire share?

Make sure that you include a comment in the contract that the purchase is contingent upon the receipt of an acceptable appraisal and financing.

Depends on the deal, i think, on who pays the Realtor. We sold one in the past where we listed on a fsbo type site that put us on the MLS for a flat fee, then we agreed to pay the buyer's agent a commission. But many times, I think, if it is a strict FSBO, the seller may balk at paying commission to anyone, but probably open to negotiation.

Run an inspector through the home, negotiate a good price and have a lawyer review the docs. Outside of that you are good, most realtors I work with do about 20 minutes of actual work for a client in a situation like this.

It is comments like dustinwill's that make me shake my head. People that think they know it all and don't - and spout off opinion's like they do.

Listen, there are some bad Realtors out there. Some that don't earn their commission. No one is saying that you should hire an incompetent Realtor. I hate Realtors and I am one. My main profession is appraising real estate. As I mentioned before, there is no possible way you can have enough information to buy that home unless you have comparable sales data. The only way to get that is from the MLS. The only way to get it from the MLS is to get it from a member of the MLS. Period. Realtors and appraisers are members - that's where you need to get this info.

Once you have this data, don't make the mistake of using price per foot. This is a fool's way of evaluating the home. It may work in cookie cutter developments with very small differences between the homes. But price per sf can be skewed tremendously by differences in the size of the home, lot value/size/view, improvements such as a swimming pool, etc. Many licensed and experienced Realtors don't even know how to properly evaluate homes and use this method.

You can call a local appraiser and ask them to take a look at it for you - on a consulting basis only. Get them to run some comps, take a look at them and give you some advice. They can do this for probably less than $100. If they give a value, then they have to create a file and write a report and then it gets expensive. But if you just get them to provide some comps and give you some direction - it is money well spent. Try to find an appraiser that is a member of the Appraisal Institute. You can go to their website www.appraisalinstitute.org and find one near you.

Also, get a home inspection. I don't care how much you think you know about the property and its condition, you need to have it evaluated by someone that knows what they are doing. You can use that report to compel the owner to make repairs.

I am not trying to be a jerk, just trying to help a fellow Ag and first time homebuyer. Do your homework and do NOT trust the seller. Ever.

dreaded dp

[This message has been edited by Shooter McGavin (edited 1/27/2009 2:53p).]

Shooter...that's exactly what we're planning on doing if we go ahead with this house. My brother in law works at the center for Real Estate at Wichita State and has been helping us quite a bit. getting an inspection is something i will NEVER forego, but even still when i was an insurance adjuster i saw fire's started in homes newly purchased that an inspector just blantantly missed. I guess they can't catch it all.

do you know any appraisers in the OKC area?

There are good and bad inspectors too, just like every other profession.

Inspections help to reduce risk, but cannot eliminate it. I wish I could find everything everytime and predict the future to prevent future problems, but time, economics, and human limitations make that unrealistic for now...

well, this one particular instance (mind you, this was Phoenix, but still), a family purchased a home, and not but a week later it burned. we (meaning myself and the fire investigator) found that a condensation line was not connected in the attic that runs the condensation out to the exterior of the home. this happened to be right over an outlet box in the wall. the condensation was just dripping on the outlet box, and you have fire.

i need a good inspector up here because the house is over 50 years old

You will find that in many cases, a FSBO won't mind paying your buyer's agent. They'll still be saving the listing fee and the market is too slow (in most places) for them to be too picky with offers.

I have found that many FSBO's over-inflate their asking price so definitley take the previous poster's advice about getting comparable sales.

Just be up front and tell them that you are using an agent and ask if they are willing to pay their commission.

I don't know these people personally, but they are members of the Appraisal Institute, which would be my first choice if I were in your position.

Stephen E. Meyer, SRA
Appraisal Resources, Inc.
1113 NW 50th
Oklahoma City OK 73118
(405) 843-1017
Fax: (405) 843-1041
steve@stephenmeyerokc.com
Accepts Fee Assignments (more info)
Property Types:
Residential, Land

Marty M. Kordic, SRA
Kordic & Associates, Inc.
Fee Appraiser
3030 N.W. 19th Street
Oklahoma City OK 73107
(405) 601-5546
Fax: (405) 601-5536
m.kordic@cox.net
Accepts Fee Assignments (more info)
Property Types:
Residential, Land

Kenneth A. Stepp, SRA
Stepp Appraisal
President
P. O. Box 20112
Oklahoma City OK 73156
(405) 858-8555
Fax: (405) 858-8556
kastepp@cox.net
Accepts Fee Assignments (more info)
Property Types:
Residential

quote:

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I wish I could find everything everytime and predict the future to prevent future problems, but time, economics, and human limitations make that unrealistic for now...

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not only for now but forever and ever




amen (couldn't resist)

I could see that happening. That is one reason why I use an infrared Camera on EVERY inspection. In that case, as long as it was wet - ie in the summer when then AC was/ could be run and not like today in Dallas - I can see it, whether or not it makes a stain or anything visible.

So along that line of thought - Infrared is definitely something you should look for / require of your inspector. I know of at least one who does it in OK. I think he probably goes to your area. You'll pay more, but it is worth it.

who is it and how much? i'd like to call him

Why not approach a realtor and propose that they help you negotiate for a reduced/fixed rate? I can't see why they should be paid a full 3% when you have already done half the work.

Padz

Sent him an email to make sure he goes there. But haven't heard back yet. I am leaving town for the weekend tomorrow, so I'll post his website for you to contact and check yourself.

freedomexpressinspections.com

Good luck with everything.