A highly popular trend for people buying Florida property in recent years has been the idea of focusing on homes that are for sale by owner. Its the ideal way to find that property you need, isn’t it? No fees to the Realtor so the property must be cheaper! But don’t underestimate the work to be carried out if you’re buying property in Florida this way.

The contract price is one of the first things to be sorted. A year or two ago when prices were rising almost weekly, sellers had a strong hand and buyers often gave in to ambitious owner-determined prices as a way to simply get into the real estate market.

Now it’s a buyers market, though, and getting the valuation right is what matters above all else. A for sale by owner property is no different than a Realtor listing: unless you have money to waste, reaching an agreed price that reflects current market conditions should be at the top of your list.

You have several places to gather information for this task, including:

* Public records: check out County records for similar properties.

* The Internet (for example, housevalues.com, realtor.com, truila.com).

* Classified ads in the local newspaper.

* Realtors via phone numbers on listed property signs in neighborhoods close to the for sale by owner home you’re considering.

You have no guarantee that any of these will provide information on a property that’s identical to the one you’re thinking about, but it will give you a baseline to work from.

But in addition to getting the price right, you will be responsible for some other important decisions in a for sale by owner transaction:

1. Will you be able to work with the seller or is he just testing the market without any real intention to proceed?

2. How prepared are you to bargain with the seller? How can you get him to lower his price without causing offense to him?

3. Costs: what expenses will you be required to pay when buying Florida property in addition to the purchase price?

4. Can you use a standard contract or do you need to prepare a unique one for each purchase? What terms and conditions and information must be included in the contract? When does it become legally binding?

5. Other legal stuff: Do you need an attorney or will a Title Company be ok?

6. Timing: how soon do you want to buy the house? How should you agree a closing date?

7. If the seller won’t proceed even though you have a written legal contract, what happens then?

8. How do you co-ordinate the timing of loan funds with the closing date in the contract and what can be done if the loan company delays things (like many do!)?

9. Most buyers pay for a Home Inspection to check for any faults in the property. When you then find that money is required to pay for repairs, does the buyer or the seller pay for the work?

Each real estate deal is unique but the answers to various issues that arise are specific to each individual contract. If you’ve bought Florida property before or if you know enough to cope with the process, you should be able to manage the job.

On the other hand, if you have any questions or concerns at all about buying Florida property, the usual advice applies: consult a professional. Don’t take chances with what for most people is the largest purchase they will ever make.