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Timing the decision to sell and gauging the
current market conditions could be two of the most critical
decisions you make. If you need to sell your home quickly, the less
flexibility, you'll be able to have. Conversely, if you're not in a
big hurry you can sit back and wait for the perfect buyer. Just
remember the real estate market is a cyclical environment. If it's a
slow period now and you're in a position to wait it out then it
might be a good idea to wait for the next upswing.
FSBO Tip 3. Assemble a team of professionals to
help you.
While it's nice to think that you can handle
things on your own, selling a home takes specialized knowledge. It's
more than just writing up a sales agreement. Depending on what part
of the country you're in you'll either need to find a real estate
attorney or a title / escrow company to help with the legal details.
As a rule of thumb, if you're east of the Mississippi it's usually a
real estate attorney. If you're west of the Mississippi, it's a
title company. Either way they'll be an indispensable part of your
home selling process. Another important partner to consider is a
reputable mortgage banker/lender. They can assist in helping you
prequalify buyer prospects. We'll talk more about qualifying
prospects as you read on.
FSBO Tip 4.How to determine the fair market price
of your home.
This always seems to be a real tricky one. For
many home sellers this typically reveals itself as a major point of
contention. When trying to decide on a price guessing or basing your
asking price on hearsay or nontraditional methods immediately
reduces your negotiating advantage. Basing your price on what the
house down the street sold for or what media outlets perceives as
increased market value is not the way to get a legitimate price
either. There are only two legitimate and well-recognized ways of
determining a fair market value. One way is to contact a real estate
agent or broker to provide you with a CMA otherwise known as a
comparative market analysis. The best and most accurate way of
determining price comes from a full-blown appraisal done by a
professional real estate appraiser.
FSBO Tip 5. You're selling a house not a home.
While it's important to become emotionally
detached, you don't have to become a robot. After all this is your
home, be objective but don't be cold. Keep in mind that people are
going to perceive your home differently than you do. Either way
remain positive and ultimately the right person will walk through
the door and buy your home.
FSBO Tip 6. Preparing your home for sale.
Today's real estate market rewards those
homeowners that place a high-value on neatnessas well as
cleanliness. It not only adds value but alsogenerally promotes a
quicker and more profitable sale. Once again the depersonalizing of
your home helps your prospect with such an emotional decision.
Decluttering the inside of a home is also key to your preparation.
If necessary, rent out a small storage space and store some
household items there. Just as a side note, having a garage sale is
also a great way of getting rid of items that clutter up the house.
Not only do you get rid of the items but also you make a little
money in the process.
FSBO Tip 7. Start spreading the news.
It should be understood if you're going to sell
your home and you're going to do it yourself, the easiest way to get
the word out is to put a sign in your yard. This will immediately
get the attention of anybody that happens to ride by. Naturally,
this is the essence of selling on your own. Coming up with a
highlight sheet to outline the key features of your home is a must.
With the readily available use of word processing programs putting
together a simple highlight sheet is easy.
FSBO Tip 8. Knowing a few, negotiating skills
will get you a long way.
It's not necessary to become the next great
diplomat. You will want to keep in mind that it's necessary to keep
your emotions and personal feelings regarding the negotiating price
of your property in check. When discussing the selling price it's
important that your calculations and numbers are correct. This
allows you to have greater flexibility and leverage and you can
negotiate from a position of strength.
FSBO Tip 9. Qualifying buyers and stopping the
lookie loos.
So what's a lookie loo? A lookie loo is a person
that comes to your house and looks in everything. They,look in
cabinets,closets and drawers check everything out but never make you
a serious offer. You need qualified buyers looking at your home or
it's going to get very discouraging. One of the best ways of getting
qualified prospects is to have them referred by your mortgage
broker/lender. You can also take the direct approach. If you're
arranging a showing over the phone, go ahead and ask them if they
are pre-qualified. Don't be too shy when it comes to your prospects.
If you're holding an open house and someone expresses interest in
your home go-ahead and ask. Most of the time if they're pre-
qualified they love to tell you. So don't worry about asking, it's
the right thing to do.
FSBO Tip 10. If all else fails go to where the
realtors hang out.
If after a while, you're not getting the results
that you were hoping for you can always go to the MLS option. This
doesn't mean that you have to list with a real estate agent or
broker. As a private party, you can list your home with your local
multiple listing service. Usually this cost a fee but by doing this
you automatically expose your house to thousands of potential
prospects all over the country. The upside is that you should be
able to sell your home in short order. The obvious downside will be
that you will have to pay co-op to an agent. Only in unique
situations would the cost of co-opting be virtually impossible, due
to low equity or some other extenuating circumstance.
These FSBO tips should give you a solid
foundation to successfully selling your own home. There's many
specific ideas and recommendations that are beyond the scope of this
article when it comes to pricing, preparing and staging your home,
and all of the items previously outlined. You should definitely
research and prepare yourself for the selling of your own home
process. In the long run,it will make things easier and could either
save you or even make you thousands of dollars.
Alan has bought and sold several homes over the
last 10 years by owner and knows what it takes to successfully get
the job done. As a resident of Jacksonville, Florida Alan's wife
Tracey works as a successful real estate agent. By understanding the
ins and outs of buying and selling real estate, you can accomplish
selling on your own with the right knowledge. For more information
on selling your own home, please visit
http://www.easyfsbo101.com/
Disclaimer:You should realize that these are only
suggestions. I accept no responsibility for your success or failure
to sell your home on your own. |
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10 FSBO Tips to Selling Your Home by Owner