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HOUSE FOR SALE BY OWNER
While my husband and I were looking to purchase our first home we were certain that we were going to buy a house for sale by owner. We were convinced that it would be the less expensive way and it would be great because we would not have to deal with a real estate agent. We quickly found out that purchasing a house for sale by owner was not quite as easy as we would have thought.
First, it is nearly impossible to easily find a house for sale by owner. Short of driving around neighborhoods all day every day you have free looking for those magical “for sale by owner” signs (which was done on several occasions), there is no easy way to find these houses. Some are listed in the local newspaper, but you have to check them every single day because a house for sale by owner is not always listed every day the paper runs. Therefore, the likelihood of missing something that might suit your needs is very high. So, basically you have to drive around looking for a house for sale by owner. And if you aren’t quite sure what neighborhood you want to purchase a home in, it becomes quite a daunting task.
Once you stumble upon a home that looks like it might be just what you are looking for from the outside, you have to try to get in contact with the mystical owner who probably also works normal business hours and has a life that keeps them from sitting in their home waiting for the phone to ring. Getting in touch can sometimes take weeks, and once you do it is nothing like talking to a professional realtor. They all think their house is the most fantastic thing and is worth $30,000 more than what the identical house down the street sold for 2 weeks ago. They won’t budge, either, because they think they are going to make a ton more money because they listed it as a house for sale by owner. And of course you most likely will get in contact with someone that has no social skills whatsoever, so getting any pertinent information is like pulling teeth.
Eventually you schedule a walk-through, which will consist of stumbling over their 5 small children and 2 huge dogs to look at the house. Since it is a house for sale by owner, they figure you might as well get the full experience of the house and just let everyone stay there while you look. At this point, you are so frustrated that you would be willing to play house with the 3 year old that is pulling on your leg just to find a damn house to buy right now.
In the end, just go with a realtor. Trying to find a house for sale by owner is probably one of the most unpleasant experiences, and you will eventually just end up searching for a realtor to hug anyway.
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