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Q. Can you negotiate the price of a bank owned home?

Everything in real estate is negotiable. However, banks are more sophisticated about pricing than they were years ago. So those "Get a great deal on a foreclosure!" days aren't what they used to be. Lowball offers generally don't go very far.

Q. We are thinking about selling our home on our own. If a buyer comes in with a Realtor do we still have to pay their agent the 3% commission?

That depends on whether you choose to "cooperate" with agents or not. If you do not, agents will not bring buyers to your house. If you do cooperate, some agents will bring buyers, but if their client makes an offer and closes the deal, they will expect to earn a commission. A three percent commission is customary, but you can attempt to negotiate, too.

Before an agent brings a client to your house, they will probably stop by and ask you to sign a "one time show" agreement. This prevents you and the buyer from negotiating directly in an attempt to not pay the agent's commission.

Q. What is a lease option?

This basically means you are leasing or renting a property with an option to buy it at a future date. The future price of the property should be fixed at the time the lease-option is signed.  

Usually there is an up-front payment of some amount to purchase the option.  The amount can vary.  Sometimes the monthly payment is larger than normal and the excess is used to purchase the option.  In some cases, the option money can be applied toward the down payment for the later purchase of the home.

Lease-options are usually done during a slow real estate market.  During a hot market, the seller can simply sell the home in the regular manner.

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