Homeownership remains one of the highest goals for many people because of its many benefits. Along with owning your own home comes a sense of security and belonging that cannot be found anywhere else. For many, homeownership represents personal and financial success. There is much personal satisfaction in living in a home that you own. A home is still a valued investment which can have many financial advantages and tax benefits. The amount of interest you pay on a home loan and the real estate taxes you pay on your home are among the few major federal tax deductions. Owning a home is the primary way most people build wealth.

Weather you are buying your first home, upgrading to a newer home, buying a vacation home, or buying an investment property, the first step will always be to get pre-qualified.

Q. Are the listings on your site also on the MLS?
A. No. Our property sellers agree to keep their properties off the MLS while listed here. This guarantees that you won't pay an inflated price to compensate for agent commissions.

Q. Do you provide Oregon real estate forms?
A. Yes. You can access them by clicking Oregon Real Estate forms.

Q. What is the first step in buying a house?
A. You need to get pre-qualified prior to looking at homes. This way, you will know how much home you can afford.

Q. Once I am pre-qualified, how do I get in to see the home?
A. Simply call the seller and schedule a time when you can come view the home.

Q. Since I am not working with a realtor, is buying a home hard?
A. Absolutely not. It is actually much easier. You are cutting out the middle man so you can negotiate directly with the seller on the price, seller paid closing cost, items included, etc. You won’t be wasting your valuable time on waiting for offers and counter offers to be accepted or declined.

Q. How can I protect myself against the home being in poor condition?
A. You can find links for home inspectors that will inspect the home from just a pest and dry rot inspection to a full home inspection. Any inspections that need to be made will normally need to be ordered and paid for by the buyer.

Q. What if the inspection report comes back with repairs that need to be made?
A. You can then negotiate with the seller on what they will fix for you prier to closing or possibly take a lesser price for the home so you can make the repairs yourself.

Q. Since I am not working with a realtor, where can I get the proper forms to make an offer?
A. You can find a printable generic form under Oregon Real Estate Forms, or you can pick up your own carbon copied form at Cooks Stationary on State Street in Salem.

Q. Who orders the appraisal?
A. Your mortgage lender will be the person that orders the appraisal.

Q. What if I have a realtor that I am already working with? Can I still work with them?
A. Since CascadeByOwner.com is strictly a “For Sale By Owner” website, we ask that if you want to work with a realtor, then you need to raise the sales price of the home enough for the realtor to get paid. The sellers of the homes on CascadeByOwner.com are selling their home themselves for a reason. They don’t want to pay high commission fees so if you elect to still work with a realtor, then raise the sales price, or pay out of your own pocket the 3% commission or whatever is negotiated between the buyer and realtor in order for them to get paid. The buyer does have the option to ask the seller if they are interested in paying a realtor commission fee out of their net proceeds, however it is not to be expected.