SW Florida Real Estate Insider

Bad Deal for a buyer

Well, season is in full swing, and for me, that means going on alot of listing appointments for seasonal residents wishing to sell thier home. Alot of people try to sell on thier own first, before they contact a real estate agent. In some cases they are successfull, but in most cases they are not. I ran into a story the other day on a listing appointment where the seller was very successfull, but at a GREAT cost to an unsuspecting buyer.

At this listing appointment, the seller's of the property had been trying to sell on thier own for about $90,000 higher than any sales in the past 4 -5 months. Thier reasoning was that there was a sale about 6-7 months ago where a seller was able to sell thier 2 bedroom villa for $370,000 which was almost $200,000 higher than any of the sales in that community. Some buyer who didn't know any better had way over paid (almost double the market value) and the seller cashed in! Here is what my research of public records came up with, seller was on the market with a realtor for 6 months at $325,000.00 with no success. Of course this was because the property was about $130,000.00 over priced and no realtor would show the property to thier clients. Shortly after thier listing expired they ended up selling to a foriegn buyer for $370,000 which we know of course was about double the market value.
So without benefit of a real estate agent who would look out for thier interest and give them a market analysis of the property and of the community, the buyers bought a home that they may never be able to recoup thier losses in.

Bottom line, always have a real estate agent represent you when purchasing a home, even a For sale by Owner or from a builder/developer. The builder developer always has a commission built in for real estate agents, so you might as well get the benefit of what you are paying for in the price of the home anyway. And with a for sale by owner, it usually can get negotiated, and lets face it, it is a lot cheaper than overpaying for a house.