We're using today's blog post to ask recent ForSaleByOwner.com customers to share their tips on what they did to get their home sold in today's marketplace. Share any tips and pieces of advice so that others may learn from your successful experience and get their home sold while saving on commisison.Below are some of the most frequently asked questions by FSBO sellers, so address one or more of these topics as you share your advice.
- How did you arrive at an asking price?
- Did you hold open houses?
- How did you know that interested buyers were qualified for a mortgage (did you ask for a pre-approval letter,etc)
- How did you handle negotiations with the buyer, etc?
- Who handled the legal work and other paperwork needed to complete the real estate transaction.
- How much did you save on commission?
- What other advice would you share?
Post your advice by clicking on the below "comments" link.
Posts
7 comments:
We sold our home in NY thru ForSaleByOwner.com ! It was listed at $380,000 and sold for $370,000 in 6 mos. Thanks to the big yard signs and all flyers showing the website. We now have another home listed for sale and enjoy the contacts received. Granted the Real Estate market is a lot tougher right now competing with foreclousures-so it's taking longer. check out #21669939
We listed our house on "ForSaleByOwner" in September 2008. By January 1, 2009 we had sold our house, purchased a new home and moved in. We saved $21,300.00 on the commission. We treated this action as a business transaction. We advertised in local papers & on their online websites. We purchased the extra directional & Open House signs and placed them at busy intersections and we had 1 open house that was also advertised. We showed the house on an average of 4 times per week - more than any realtor showed our previous houses. The first 2 weeks we showed the house 18 times. The house was sold the weekend of the open house and we had 2 other serious couples interested. This was the best decision we have ever made concerning real estate.
Advise: Get rid of all the junk, clear out extra furniture, clean carpets and paint rooms cream. We were completly satisfied and if we decide to sell our current house we will difinitely go with ForDaleByOwner.
I sold my Condo this summer in 4 months thanks to ForSaleByOwner.com. The website got about 2000 hits in the first month. I was averaging about 4 showings a week. The signs and flyers were great but it was the website more than anything else that sold the house.
-- John, Burlington VT
I planted a ForSaleByOwner.com sign in front of my house the 4th week in October and had a written offer by Thanksgiving Day.
Key: I moved out of the house, painted all the walls a neutral color with a hint of butter yellow, staged the kitchen and dining room, then laid down neutral grass carpets from Lowe's in most of the rooms.
I made sure that my front yard was impeccable and pulled all the overgrown bushes, I put in a new sidewalk to the door.
Everytime a buyer wanted to see the house I ran over 45 minutes early, and TURNED EVER LIGHT IN TH E HOUSE ON, even in the closets..then, I opened several windows for 20 minutes, then sprayed the entire house with deodarizer (even the closets). turned on all the lights, took the vases of fresh cut flowers out of the refrigerator, put Comet cleanser in the toilets and sinks, flushed all of the toilets, ran water through all the sinks, and dusted, picked up any dead anything, leaves or bugs. Also, I cleaned all the sinks with comet and shined the faucets. I had extra floor lamps around the house, and big palm trees here and there.
Before I put the house on the market I had all the windows professionally cleaned, then I had the house inspected and fixed anything I thought would be a problem. I also offered a home warranty. The house was in good condition so I left the inspection book out.
I did change out the kitchen cabinet handles, the older faucets, and put in new carpet with pad in the basement and new fixtures where they were needed (the house was built in 1942).
I had 4 very particular friends come over and give me the honest bald truth about what they would change or look for if they had to buy the house.
Also, before anyone arrived I made sure the yard and entrance was clear of leaves every day and I had giant pots of mums on the front porch.
The other thing was that I bought extra street signs that pointed to my block and put them on a major street with the address, then another closer to my street, and led them in that way.
I had 3 seriously interested buyers in 3 weeks, and one that put down earnest money before we settled on a price.
Also, I had the house appraised and set the selling price $12,000 above that price...just in case. And it sold for $2000 more than it appraised for.
MOst important was the lights in the house, the fact that I didn't live there, AND there was no clutter or furniture to sway them, I place lots of cut flowers around and plants. It's so important that everything shines, is depersonalized, and smells super clean. FResh toilet paper rolls (unused or folded) and fresh bars of soap and white untouched hand towels is a good touch. Plants even in the bathrooms is good.
Oh, I NEVER referred to the house like it was EVER MINE or like I had any memories there, more like it was an object to me, like I was a realtor who had no personal feeling for the house, I wanted them to really feel like it could be a place they could call their home. Don't have your spouse, friends, pets or children there, it makes people think of you living there, not them. I had a large painting in some rooms, but they were like miscellaneous impressionistic landscapes, more for color to add to the empty rooms.
I listed my house on ForSaleByOwner.com in December 2008 and it sold the three months. I placed an advertisement in the local Sunday newspaper weekly which included info on the web site. I utilized the flyer feature on the website and created a flyer with six photos and an extensive description. I placed these in front of the house and ensured the container was never empty. I used one sign in front of the house with a contact phone number. I immediately began receiving phone calls and the calls remained consistent until the sale. I staged the house with furniture, removed all the personal items, painted the walls cream and cleaned it thoroughly. The buyer requested a home inspection. This house was constructed in 2002 so I did not expect the number of issues that were in the report. If I were to sell a house by owner again, I would have a home inspection before listing and ensure all issues were addressed. I showed the house to every potential buyer with the statement that I would not begin negotiations on a price until they provided a letter of loan pre-approval from their lender. The final buyer went immediately to his lender and within a few days had the letter. I am sure this saved me time working with buyers that in the end would not be qualified. The part of this process that I was most unsure about was completing the paperwork and negotiations. I am located in the western US and the title company handles the escrow process. I went to a local title company and they provided me with a standard purchase agreement they use and gave me information on the process. The buyer and I met with the title company to complete the paperwork to start escrow and again to sign the final documents. It all came together very smoothly. The house was listed for $284,000 and sold for $270,000 which was the final appraised value. I saved $16,200 in commission. I highly recommend ForSaleByOwner.com and selling your own home.
I listed a small Home in the Rockford Illinois area for $126,000.It sold it 8 weeks later for $118,000. I may have been able to get more, but I sold in the worst part of the housing slump and felt lucky that the home sold quickly. I have good feedback for the FSBO Site. The Realtors did however come out of the woodwork when I posted the home and they were all asking for a 3 percent commission. I agreed to this only if they brought the asking price and this yielded no result. I used an attorney for the closing and there was an additional $800 dollars in fees. Not bad if you consider 7 percent on the asking price. Open houses did not do well. The sign in the front yard brought most of my phone calls. I had several lookers and there were some calls from people asking if I would consider renting them the property. On a one out of ten I would rate my experience with the FSBO website at about an 8. I plan to use the site again next year when i sell the home i am in now.
I know that wanted to hear stories about ones experiences using ForSaleBowner.com well I can't do that so I just wanted to say that by all these comments it seems like that it really is better for an owner to sell their own properties they save hugely on expenses, and they don't have to go through a middle person I think that in the long run its a far better way of selling ones property, but having said that were does this leave the estate agents???
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