Buying a house in a private real estate sale can have many benefits for buyers. FSBO homes, because they do not use a real estate agent, can often be cheaper than similar homes listed with a seller agent. You will also get a chance to work directly with the owner/seller of the home, rather than having to go through their real estate agent. Here are some house hunting tips when looking to buy an FSBO home.

Location, Location, Location

It is often said that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. The point may be old and cliché these days, but it is important none the less. The first thing you should do before hunting for a home is to determine what areas appeal to you. How far away is an area from your place of employment? What about grocery stores and shopping? If you have children, what is the quality of the school district for an area? These are all important issues to take into consideration. Even if you happen to find what seems to be the perfect FSBO house for you, if it is in the wrong location you will probably want to find another house in a better suited location.

Make a List of What You're Looking for in a Home

You may think that you know exactly what it is you're looking for in a home, but when push comes to shove you find that you're not really sure. A good idea is for you and your spouse to sit down together and make a list of all of the things that you are looking for in your new home. Once you have your list, rank them by importance to give you guidance in selecting homes to look at. This list of course will not set anything in stone, but it will give you a better idea of things to look for in your house hunting of private real estate sale homes.

Research Potential For Sale by Owner Homes

In the days of the Internet, there is a lot of information to be found out about homes online. FSBO homes are often advertised online in the first place, and will often give a lot of information, however you will often be able to find out more about a home's real estate history, the area of town, etc. by looking at the Internet. You can also go to City Hall and get more on the history of a specific property. Such research can provide you with important information that you might not get out of the sellers themselves.

Get Mortgage Pre-Approval

Whether you are looking for a private real estate sale or are going the traditional seller agent route to finding a new home, mortgage pre-approval can be of great help to you. Many motivated sellers these days pre-screen potential buyers in order to cut down on lookie-loos and the like, and will require a potential buyer to be pre-approved for a mortgage before they will even allow them to look at a home. Pre-approval is also a good thing for you, as it tells you just how much house you can afford when you are looking for an FSBO home. In today's market, it is also a good thing to know exactly how much of a mortgage you can receive before you go looking at houses.

Be Prepared to Make an Offer

Whenever you go to look at a For Sale by Owner home, you should always be ready to make an offer on the home. Even if you don't actually make an offer on a home, it is good to put yourself in a place of mind before going to look at a property that you are looking at a home that you may make an offer on right now. You never know when you might find your dream home, you should always be prepared.

Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley