Saskatoon News October 31, 2011

Another Reason Not To Buy Real Estate Privately

There are many reasons it can be dangerous to buy a house for sale in Saskatoon from a for sale by owner but this headline illustrates yet another. Sometimes people think it is easy to go it alone and buy a house without a Saskatoon real estate agent but why would they want to? Do you know that the person who is showing you the house is actually the owner? Is there any verification of ownership? Does that person owe taxes or other? How much do you trust Kijiji? While I buy and sell small items on there it can be a scary place when you are looking at the largest investment of your life.

Your Saskatoon REALTOR® is there to ensure that you are looked after. Often, if a seller is not willing to speak to a professional about the sale of their home, they may be hiding something. If you have a good REALTOR® in Saskatoon asking the right questions it can eliminate a lot of headache and money wasted.

This particular guy, the Star Phoenix reports, “sold” his landlord’s property to pay for drugs. Great! Luckily the owner of the property, who lives in Calgary, became aware that his tenant started selling sheds, grain bins and other items that were on the property and alerted the police. He also attempted to “sublet” the property and was asking for deposits as there were many people interested. One more step and he would have “sold” the house to an unsuspecting buyer who may have possibly given him a large deposit, signed some paperwork, and then found out when it was too late.

This is why Saskatoon REALTORS® help as I have heard of other stories of people fraudulently trying to sell property that they are renting and we are here to help protect our clients.

Moral of the story? Let the professionals in your life do what they are trained to do. Let your dentist be the only one to drill in your mouth. Let your doctor be the only one to cut you open. Let your lawyer be the only one to represent you in court and let your Saskatoon real estate agent be the one to help you in the largest transaction you will make.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Fusion
kari@saskatoonrealestate.net