What to know when buying a for Sale by Owner in San Diego

As you search for homes for sale in San Diego’s hot market, you may come across a “For Sale by Owner”. You may be tempted to knock on the door or call the number advertised. You may think that going directly to the seller, this may save you a lot of money. Well, the complete opposite may be true. 

Just because the seller has put their home up for sale by owner does not mean that they will not work with your Realtor. They are well aware that most homebuyers are working with agents so they will agree to pay the buyers agent a commission so do get your agent involved. This will only help you in the long run. A great buyer’s agent is priceless and will not cost you a thing. The seller is the one that will pay for this service that will save you thousands of dollars and aggravation in the long run.

Once you do your inspections, a lot of things may come up that you will want to take a second look at and may want to renegotiate because of certain repairs needed. Your agent will serve as a buffer and be able to know exactly how to get this negotiated where it makes more sense to your financial pocket. The buying process is an emotional one for both the buyer and seller. Having your agent as your buffer will give you an advantage as you can discuss things over with them before making a decision on certain things that the seller is asking for.

Many times a seller who has decided to put their home on the market as a “For Sale by Owner” is doing so because they feel that the Real Estate market is so good for sellers right now that they may not need a Realtor. They may have spoken to a few Realtors but have not liked the price that was recommended for their home so they figured they would be able to go at it themselves at a higher price and save the commission.

Your Agent will be able to show you the comps and help you determine what price you should offer if you decide to put an offer on this home.An experienced agent will be actively visiting properties in the area and will be well versed on the comps in the neighborhood.

With this being said, when selling a home in San Diego, there are certain disclosures that a seller is supposed to provide to a buyer with the sale of a home. Because the seller of a For Sale by Owner is typically not experienced with these documents, they will not have filled them out and ultimately not realize that they are supposed to disclose certain things about the property.

Your agent will know exactly what questions to ask so that the seller will have to disclose everything they possibly know about the property (the good, the bad and the ugly) without leaving anything out.

If you were to buy this home and all of a sudden you run into a problem with it, you can then re-examine the sellers disclosures. You may discover that the problem was ongoing and the seller did not disclose it. At this point you will be able to go back and address the issue and most likely get compensated because the seller did not disclose a material fact.

If you are in need of an expert buyer’s agent in San Diego, contact the McT Real Estate Group right now. We will go over the process of buying a home and together come up with a game plan to get you the right home that you desire.