Oh, good grief:
I’m under contract to buy a FSBO. Since the seller and I are doing this without using realtors, I’ve been researching on the internet to make sure I do everything that a realtor would tell me to do. I hired an inspector, and just got his report back. He found a lot of things wrong! Some are little, but some are pretty important like problems with the electricity and slab. I think I’m getting a great deal on the price, but with this much wrong, I’m not sure. How much is too much wrong to accept? BTW, I bought the house knowing it would need alot of handyman type of repairs, and I’m looking forward to that.
I think this is a marvelous example of why no one should buy a home without professional representation. Are you buying a white elephant? You don’t know. Are you paying too much? You don’t know. Are the repairs going to clobber you? You don’t know.
Let’s assume you’re paying market value for the home and that the seller is willing to undertake reasonable repairs. For a well-maintained house in the Phoenix-area, the cost of repairs shouldn’t come to more than 2% – 3% of the purchase price. If we get north of 5%, I’m ready to run — or at least renegotiate the price.
But suppose you’re buying this fixer at what you think is 20% under market, while the repairs are looking to be less than 10%. That might be a smokin’ deal.
In your place, I might cough up the money to hire a very experienced Realtor to evaluate your situation. If he likes your deal, you’re probably fine. If he says, “Walk away,” I think you should run away instead.
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Julia says:
You know what? There is a third foot, it was on last night’s episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond”, but I’m not sure you want to go there.
September 26, 2006 — 5:09 pm
jf.sellsius says:
Knowldge is a good thing.
September 26, 2006 — 7:04 pm