Why be a For Sale By Owner?

In today's market, many sellers do not have 7% to 10% in equity. With regular listing fees, and Washington's high sellers closing fees, it can cost 8% or more at closing when selling a home listed with a Real Estate Agent.  (Even For sale by owners are stuck with between 2% and 3% in closing costs).  In the Tri Cities, home values have not declined as much as the rest of Washington, but despite what some real estate professionals will tell you, they have declined at least a few percent from what they were 3 years ago.  So if you haven't owned your home in the Tri Cities for 6 or more years you likely don't have the equity built up to pay a full commission and closing costs without it eating into your own pocket. 

By Selling by owner you can often save 6% or more of those closing costs. On an average $200,000 home, that is a savings of $12,000.  If you are trying to sell your home by owner we recommend putting at least some of that savings into marketing, lawyer work, and professional assistance.  That is where Tri Cities Homes For Sale can step in and help.  We offer everything from for sale by owner marketing solutions to Full For Sale By Owner selling solutions starting at just $299. 

Most agents will spent a minimum of $500 and often over $1000 marketing a home - so don't make the mistake of thinking that as a For Sale By Owner you can spend nothing - We offer a great Internet marketing program that places your home on over 10 of the hottest real estate websites and we can even give you the option to put your home on the local Tri Cities Real Estate MLS.

Why Buy a For Sale By Owner?

This is a harder question to answer.  For most home buyers, buying a home without professional representation doesn't make sense.  While it is possible that you may save a few thousand buying a home from an owner. It is more likely that you will pay thousands to much without the familiarity of the Tri Cities real estate market that a professional real estate agent brings to the table.  For a buyer, an agent is almost always worth the money because it isn't the home buyers money - the buyers agent gets payed out of the sellers proceeds (Of course the sellers proceeds do come from the home buyer, so the home buyer could argue that, at least indirectly, the agent is getting the buyers money). 

Buying a home is a big decision and paying too much for a home could have negative effects for years.  In the Tri Cities, home values can change dramatically in just a few blocks because of location, school zones, house ages, or just the perception of the neighborhood.  Getting into a bad loan can cause a lot of headaches as well.  So can any number of other factors.  A good Tri Cites real estate professional is familiar with the various neighborhoods, loan products, house values, school districts, inspectors, loan officers, and all the other factors that go into buying a home.   

At Tri Cities Homes For Sale we can help you buy any home in the Tri Cities area.  We don't care if it is listed or for sale by owner, and almost all of the time we will get our compensation from the seller.  We don't ask for 3% or more like many real estate professionals in the area, so almost all of the time for sale by owners are happy to pay our fees even thought we represent you - the buyer.  Most of the time they feel that what we are asking is worth it just to know all of the paperwork and contracts will be valid and meet the legal requirements in Washington.

So let us here at Tri Cities Homes For Sale help you with your next Tri Cities home purchase.