Rent or buy for sale by owner: weighing the options

When you're debating whether you should continue to rent or buy for sale by owner homes, consider several factors before making your final decision.

Homeowners often sell their properties themselves to avoid paying a real estate agent. When you're debating whether you should continue to rent or buy for sale by owner homes, consider several factors before making your final decision.

First, weigh renting verses buying. While it may seem like owning a home is better than renting, choosing whether to rent or buy for sale by owner homes is not as easy as it seems. There are pros and cons to both options. When you rent, you are not responsible for maintenance or repairs. If something breaks, you call someone else to fix it.

Renting has its negatives. In the buy vs. rent debate, one of the major downfalls to renting is that you will have to deal with a landlord. Renting is also inconvenient if they owner wants to sell the house. You may decide to buy because you prefer not to have a landlord anymore. When you own a home, you get tax deductions, build net worth and have the luxury of designing the home any way you like.

So if you want to compare your options to rent or buy, for sale by owner homes are just a section of the real estate market. You can get a mortgage for a home that is listed through a real estate company or for sale by owner. You can also buy foreclosed homes with traditional financing. You can use Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan programs to buy any of these homes.

If you think you want to buy, the compare the types of home sales. Of the three types of sales mentioned above, all of them allow you to research the home's condition before you make an offer unless you buy a foreclosed home at auction. If you want to buy through a real estate agent, from a homeowner or buy foreclosed homes from banks, realties or government agencies, you have the right to get a home inspection and home appraisal. In the case of a foreclosed home or a pre-foreclosure sale, if you are buying from the homeowner, you also want to do a title search to make sure the property title does not have liens. This due diligence helps assure you buy a home that doesn't have major problems, regardless of how it is sold.

If you choose not to rent, but to buy a for sale by owner home, consult a lawyer to help you draft a home offer and review any sale contracts before you sign. To look at real estate listings in your area now, enter your zip code above.