Metro Detroit FSBOs
Whether it is a Wayne County For sale by owner or an Oakland County FSBO, FBSOs don’t believe in the established real estate system. Some of the reasons they don’t have faith in real estate agents or the Metro Detroit real estate system is:
- they think real estate agents charge too high of a commission for what they do
- FSBO’s think it is easy to sell a home
- For sale by owners sometimes think there house is worth more than the real estate agent says. Why can’t I ask $50,000 more than homes are selling for.
- some FSBO’s don’t think they need to prepare their Oakland County home for sale because it is already in good shape. It’s the best house one the block in their mind. They haven’t seen the homes we have. We take buyers out regularly.
- want to take advantage of home buyers that have no representation or no real estate knowledge
- sometimes they are just cheap
I am writing this because I have seen buyers lose their deposits or have to fight for over a year to get their deposits back when the for sale by owner deal goes south. Real estate contracts are tricky. I have seen hundreds of them but there is always different wording or clauses that can kill a deal. Contract clauses that put my clients and my clients money at risk.
As real estate agents we try to minimize your risks at all times. When we don’t know the answer or don’t understand the real estate contract or purchase agreement we go to our broker. We go to real estate agents that have 20 or 30 years in the business. We sometimes bounce the Purchase agreement off 2 or 3 different agents to get our answer. I know an agent that sells 20 million dollars of homes a year. She still has questions about contracts. She has the ability to get the answers from the broker and other agents.
When dealing with a metro Detroit for sale by owner (FSBO) be sure you have the contract looked at by an attorney or have representation by a real estate agent. The reason I am writing this is because I have had customers that thought they were getting a deal and then ended up with a money pit. They signed away their right to sue, they bought the house “as is”, with some purchase agreement clause that protected the Metro Detroit for sale by owner FSBO.
I just read a blog about a couple who lost $8500 because the home did not close before Dec 21. The house couldn’t close because the buyers couldn’t get the house to appraise. The house wasn’t worth what the purchase price was. So the bank would not give the loan. But because the for sale by owner (FSBO) had put in the clause “the home sale must close by Dec 21 or the buyer forfeits the deposit” So the buyer lost their deposit even though the seller refused to lower the price to what the bank would loan on. The buyers never realized what those 14 words could do.
Don’t let this happen to you. Get your contract looked at by a real estate attorney or have a real estate agent represent you.
My quote of the Day is:
Necessity is the mother of taking chances.
Mark Twain
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