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How to Buy a Home

What to Know About FSBO and Zillow Before You Buy (Replay) - 323

How to Buy a Home

David Sidoni

How To, News, Education, Business, Business News, Investing

4.8 • 859 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this special replay, David Sidoni dives into one of the most common first-time buyer questions—should you buy a home directly from the seller? Plus, the truth about Zillow’s Zestimate and why relying on it could cost you thousands.Buying directly from a seller (For Sale By Owner / FSBO) sounds like a great way to score a deal—but is it? David breaks down the real risks of buying without representation and why FSBO deals often leave first-time buyers unprotected and overpaying. Plus, he exposes the shocking inaccuracy of Zillow’s Zestimate, and what you should do instead if you want to make a smart offer.


Quote:


“The seller pays for your realtor. You shouldn’t have to do this alone, especially because you can hire a pro for free.” – David Sidoni


Highlights:

• Why most FSBO deals don’t save you money—and often cost you more.

• The real reason sellers skip listing on the open market (hint: it’s not to give you a deal).

• How Zillow’s Zestimate is often off by thousands—straight from Zillow’s own data.

• What buyers miss out on without professional representation—and why it’s risky.

• Why timing the market wrong can cost you more than “overpaying” today.

• How amortization works—and what you REALLY pay over the life of a loan.

• Why owner financing might sound appealing—but often benefits the seller, not you.


Connect with me to find a trusted realtor in your area or to answer your burning questions!



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David Sidoni, the "How to Buy a Home Guy," is a seasoned real estate professional and consumer advocate with two decades of experience helping first-time homebuyers navigate the real estate market. His podcast, "How to Buy a Home," is a trusted resource for anyone looking to buy their first home. It offers expert advice, actionable tips, and inspiring stories from real first-time homebuyers. With a focus on making the home-buying process accessible and understandable, David breaks down complex topics into easy-to-follow steps, covering everything from budgeting and financing to finding the right home and making an offer.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, homies, welcome to another replay episode. Yes, six years and I've gone over a lot of pieces of

0:06.6

information and today we're jumping all the way back to November 23rd, 2021. Since I've been helping

0:13.1

first time homebuyer since 2006, yes, a lot of times I'll get the same questions and people

0:18.1

will ask me about things like buying directly from the seller or using

0:21.9

Zillow to help them figure out what price they should offer on a home. Well, the best strategies on

0:27.6

this haven't changed. So we're going to go back to episode 63 way early in the How to Buy a Home

0:33.7

podcast because this information will help you today in 2025. Here we go, homies. How to Buy a Home podcast because this information will help you today in 2025. Here we go,

0:39.2

homies. How to Buy a Home educates, protects, and connects first-time home buyers to qualify

0:44.5

vetted realtors in their area, whether you're looking for DIY information or step-by-step

0:49.1

guidance. How to Buy a Home is the number one resource for first-time home buyers.

0:56.6

What's happening? What is up, my up my how to buy a homies that's what i've decided to call you how to buy a homies i hope you like it if you

1:02.5

hate it sending me something better i'm out of ideas hi gang it's david sidoni the how to buy a home

1:07.9

guy and this is the how to buy a home podcast okay tonight this email came How to Buy a Home podcast. Okay, tonight, this email came

1:12.9

into me from a listener. I called my wife, told her not to wait up. I said there's something very

1:16.8

important. I have to tell my listeners, flipped on the microphone, and here I am. That's right. I move my

1:21.5

sitting desk into the standing position, turned on John Williams' greatest hits, 1969 to

1:27.3

inspire me.

1:29.8

And in fact, I was writing this out in my office in the dark.

1:34.1

Well, my office isn't dark, but the rest of the building is.

1:36.6

And I did it with a Star Wars theme blaring because the people have a right to know.

1:42.2

I don't know what I meant with that analogy. Maybe I'm equating myself to the

1:46.6

force. Don't know. Okay, for sale by owners, that's our first topic. Now, they're commonly known as

...

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