Alaska Home Buying Guide:

Use our mortgage calculator to know how much you can afford here.

Create a list of the features you want in a home (for example: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fireplace, lot size, cul-de-sac, pet friendly, close to shopping, garage, etc...)

Begin looking for a mortgage company that offers a variety of programs with competitive interest rates. Sort  the mortgage companies more suited to your buying goal (for example, friendliness to first home buyer, second mortgage, refinancing, etc...)

Begin searching our database of properties for sale, or use other resources offered such as: newspapers, real estate magazines, offers in local stores and other areas. Be aggressive with your search, and you will be one step closer to finding your new home.

When looking at new homes in new subdivisions, open houses, re-sale homes try to avoid bringing a real estate agent / realtor with you because they get a commission normally 3% and sometimes up to 6% to 10% just for being there with you. Sometimes you can negotiate this % that the agent / realtor would get off the sale price of the home by not involving another real estate agent having their "hands" in the deal. Most of the time they will often ask you to sign a form that you are being represented by an agent / realtor so they will make sure that they get their commission and to disclose that they are not breaking any state laws of dual representation. If you refuse to sign this form, often you may experience a negative response from the party showing you the property.

Once you have found a property that suits your needs, usually this is the time to make an offer and it is a good idea to make the offer contingent on a home inspection and on a home evaluation.

After finding a home for sale by the owner, many sellers and buyers have went to a title company to get help on the process of buying or selling a home. There are many title companies that are willing to help buyers and sellers with the process. We recommend using title companies that are FSBO friendly, be wary of ones that are not becuase usually they have partnerships with large real estate cluster companies and do not want to upset them by helping people sell on their own. Another popular option is our fsbo paperwork assistance program, where a liscensed real estate broker will write up the deal, write up the ernest money agreements and take care of the legal paperwork for one fee of $499. Most home buyers and sellers split the fee evenly for this service. We also have a link for real estate forms to download under the "Helpful Tools" section for the do-it-yourself individuals.

There can be several advantages of buying a for sale by owner property. Usually both parties can save money by "cutting" out the middle man (real estate agent) and having a little more room to work with with the sales price. Another important reason that buying FSBO compared to buying from a real estate agent is that when a great deal on a home comes into the brokers office, a lot of times they will let all of their colleagues know about the bargain deal and is gets an offer before it even gets entered into the MLS.

Alaska Home Selling Guide:

Before offering your home for sale, complete all of the needed repairs on the house.

Look into having the home inspection and home valuation completed before it is on the market.  That gives you a reference point for setting the price of your home.

Make your home presentable by doing a very thorough cleaning job on your home. Potential buyer will get a first positive impression this way.

Consider new paint or having the carpets professionally cleaned. Small improvements on your home can make it look more attractive for buyers.

Set your home at a realistic and or fair price. Consider a home appraisal or a home valuation. Try to show potential buyers your home at the best time of the day, that is the time when there is more light coming in.

There are several online resources to find property values including: Zillow.com To find comparable sale prices of your Alaska home in your neighboorhood visit Muni.org.

Seperate the lookers (agents looking at comparables, "tire kickers", etc...) from qualified buyers. Your time is valuable and we recommend stating in your flier or online listing to bring a 90% letter from a financial institution to view the property. You also may want to ask for names and phone numbers of potential buyers before entering your home. A true buyer has no problem with giving you their information. This will allow you to follow up with a phone call a day or two after the viewing to ask the buyer what they thought of your property and if they have any more questions to feel free to give you a call.

Advertise your home in aggressive manner: Internet ads, flyers on bulletin boards, link to your online listing in newspapers (www.fsboalaska.com/195), etc...

We recommend signing up and listing your property with FsboAlaska.com, and placing a for sale by owner yard sign on your home or in your yard. If you decide to place an ad in one of the local newspapers, we recommend that you create a direct link to your property:

FSBO, 3bd, 2ba, nice views
Fenced yard, large lot, 240K
2 car garage, 555-1212
www.fsboalaska.com/179

This will show potential buyers extra detailed information and pictures of your home, that would not fit in a local newspaper ad.

Be wary of FSBO companies that are run by real estate agents, brokers or lenders offering free services. Can anyone work for free? In most cases their primary goal to get you to convert to use their full service real estate service and capitalize on a commission of some sort or pay a very large fee to sign up for their service. For Sale By Owner Alaska has remained the most popular resource for helping people sell their homes on their own since 2002 with reasonably priced services, and our primary goal is to see that you sell your home without having to pay a commission. We are committed into helping people sell own their own successfully and offer affordable real estate tools to help with the process.

After finding a potential home buyer that is willing to give you ernest money deposit, many sellers and buyers have went to a title company to get help on the process of buying or selling a home. There are a good number of title companies that are willing to help buyers and sellers with the process. We recommend using title companies that are FSBO friendly, be wary of ones that are not becuase usually they have partnerships with large real estate cluster companies and do not want to upset them by helping people sell on their own. Another popular option is our fsbo paperwork assistance program, where a liscensed real estate broker will write up the deal, write up the ernest money agreements and take care of the legal paperwork for one fee of $499. Most home buyers and sellers split the fee evenly for this service. We also have a link for real estate forms to download under the "Helpful Tools" section for the do-it-yourself individuals.

Consider offering a real estate agent a finders fee or a small % of the sale, if you are having difficulty selling on your own. If you must use a realtor, search for ones that will allow you to have the option of selling your home FSBO or with their brokerage. There are a few real estate agencies that will allow you to have this option when selling your property.

If for some reason it does not work out selling your home on your own, we recommend using the Alaska MLS flat fee program where you can list you property on some of the most popular real estate web sites including the local MLS (AlaskaRealEstate.com), FsboAlaska.com, ByOwnerMLS.com, and Realtor.com without paying the typical sellers commission of 3% for one flat fee.

"These statements provided are intended to be a general guide, not legal advice. Check with the Alaska real estate regulatory agency here for any questions regarding the buying, selling, renting or any other issues involving real estate transactions."