FSBO Tips and Advice for Selling Your Own Home by Owner
If over 30% of all homes sold are owner owned, then why does your “friendly real estate agent” say he’s the only way to get the job done? I don’t really believe in real estate agents anyway, as I have seen many retired brokers with For Sale By Owner signs on their front yards. The main thing a FSBO needs is time on your part. If you do NOT need to sell your house in a month and can pay within 4-6 months, this would be an ideal situation. These are the other factors that you will need to consider if you are going to sell your own home.
The price is king. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, be sure to price your home realistically. Nobody really cares if you have a new fence and it costs you $10,000. Most important is the value of your home in today’s market based on comparable sales. As a listing owner, you want the price of your home to be a little less than the price of a comparable home with XYZ realty. It is a mistake to try to earn the commission instead of saving it. The best way to price is to get an independent
assessment. An appraisal is based on comparable sales and is usually a more reliable source without all the fanfare of a real estate company. You can show this to buyers and negotiate from a strong position.
Get a home inspection done by a licensed independent professional. Not from your brother-in-law who has a truck and a hammer. Take care of any repairs that arise from the inspection. This way, a buyer can’t charge you five cents of your sales price. The same goes for a survey. If you can get your hands on one, this will take the guesswork out of your property dimensions.
You’d be surprised at the way people present their homes when selling privately. Take care of the obvious things like mowing the lawn, a new coat of paint, cleaning the rugs, washing the stinky dog, and removing all the clutter from your closets and garage. People like bright and open living areas. So if you need to move some of your extra furniture for storage or to a friend’s house, this will pay dividends. Also open all curtains and curtains.
If your home is priced right, then all it takes is a moderate marketing campaign, your buyers will find you, especially if a real estate agent has a comparable home listed in your neighborhood. A newspaper ad, some brochures, a For Sale By Owner sign are the basics. If you have the skill, you could make a small website about your home. Also, each city has a FSBO related company that will provide you with a paper listing, website exposure, and some of the forms. Of course, you can hold open houses, but be a little careful. Always have at least 2 adults available, don’t let too many people in at once, and hide your valuables.
Real estate agents will argue that private home sellers are at a disadvantage due to the complex nature of real estate transactions. They are correct! The easiest way to resolve this is when a buyer wants to make you an offer, have a lawyer or notary review it beforehand, to make sure you are on the right track. MUCH cheaper than a real estate broker! Agents will say you should strike when the iron is hot, but I think it’s not out of the question for a buyer to wait 24 hours for his lawyer to see the deal.
Do not accept clauses of 72 hours. This simply means that a buyer wants his house but must sell his house first. It is a waste of time, money and energy. Buyers will want to tie up your home and a 72 hour clause gives them the first right of refusal. I always say come to me when you have your money free and let’s make a deal then.
Rate your buyers. This is not an easy task, but many people are time wasters. If you get calls at your ad or at your open house, you should ask questions like: Do you currently own or rent? Have you looked at many houses? What kind of work do you do? Do you need to sell a house before you can buy it? You can do them tactfully and judge the answers. Really, if they don’t want to answer them, they probably just wanted to waste your time.
These are the most important things you can do when selling your own home. Everything listed above is designed to give you an advantage and to deal with your buyers from a position of strength, hopefully you can save a few bucks. After all, you own the house, pay the taxes, pay the mortgage, why shouldn’t you be getting the highest net dollars in your pocket?