king@kestrel.ARPA (Dick King) (03/17/86)
From: dberg@noscvax.UUCP (David I. Berg) Newsgroups: net.invest Date: 13 Mar 86 15:06:23 GMT Distribution: usa In article <1435@ames.UUCP>, moose@ames.UUCP (Mary Kaiser) writes: > ... could anyone out there provide useful input on the pros and > cons of buying a house from the owner. Basically, I guess the > question is whether the seller would pass on enough of his/her > savings to make it worth our time and/or risk. > My experience is limited to the selling of one house and the buying and selling of a couple of parcels of vacant land, but for what it's worth I would stick with a R.E agent. (My first house was bought from a R.E. broker, so he acted as his own agent and my second house was bought new, so it doesn't apply.) There are enough little nits that can really nickel and dime one's time away when selling property; if the seller doesn't stay on top of them the buyer may find him/herself spending a lot of time making sure things get done so escrow can close on time. (And speaking of escrow, I have found that escrow companies do next to nothing to help either buyer or seller in a R.E. transaction.) When I sold my first house, I carefully selected a R.E. agent who would spend the time making sure all these little nits got done. The buyer was able to relax with the confidence that things were taken care of, and my time was freed to do the things I had to do outside of selling the property. This really sounds like an opportunity for a book with an accurate checklist. Does anyone know of any?