Selling house by owner. . . need feedback.

[Fisher of Men]

Greetings everyone,

We are about to put our house up for sale by owner.  We made a run last year with a realtor but the last four months fell into a real slow down.  We also had issues with our agent in that she didn't provide us with feedback in a timely manner and don't feel she worked hard enough.  We've considered the "buyowner.com" service, but haven't seen many houses sell in our area using them.  Needing to clear some $$ for debt motivates us to keep that extra 6% in our pockets. Besides the normal tips such as staging the house, etc., what experience have any of you had at selling by owner.  Where can we receive help with the paperwork, etc?  Should we take out a special ad in the paper?  We're purchasing a sign and "infotube" that allows us a spot on the web with pictures.  Any advice would be appreciated.

-Fisher

[roadwarrior]

In a hot market FSBO is the way to go,

but in today's market you need an agent!

I have sold four houses and a number of investment

properties privately. As a matter-of-fact, I have been

lucky and have not sold through a broker. However,

times are different right now. There is way too much

inventory on the market and the only way to find a

number of qualified buyers is to have someone

actively marketing your home.

[Fisher of Men]

Thanks, Kent.  The market here in North Texas is said to be better than the nation (according to our local media).  My wife is pushing a little to hire another agent, but since we're not real pressured to sell immediately I thought a month by owner might not hurt.  Besides, we can ask around $10,000 less going this route.

[Grey Wolf]

Good luck and I hope you can sell it quick.

[Zel]

Do you have Assist-2-Sell realty where you are?  I think the basic going rate right now is $2,995 flat fee to sell a home.  I've used them in the past for both buying and selling and have been thoroughly satisfied, but my local Assist-2-Sell office really works hard for their clients.  I can't say the same for every office.

[roadwarrior]

Besides, we can ask around $10,000 less going this route.

No, don't do that!

A lower price will not get more potential buyers into the house, some will even view that as a negative or a sign of desperation. Determine the "going rate" in your neighborhood and calculate you offering price based on a multiple of the square footage. Then add a little!

The "savings" you might realize by selling the house yourself is part of the "negotiating process". NEVER give that away up front! When you find "real" buyers with financing, then the negotiations begin.

One more suggestion:

Be firm when you are casually questioned about price.

Money talks, BS walks.

8-)

[Raul]

Besides, we can ask around $10,000 less going this route.

NEVER !!!!

Coming from a somobody that purchases real estate, that 's exactly what I 'm looking for when I 'm in the hunt of purchasing a property, you say you need to sell the house to clear out some $$ debt, you need not desperate but in need, exactly what I makes me drool, need of fresh crash, time to squeeze the most out of the needy owner.

Lowering the price will not bring more potential customers, lowering the price will bring excatly the kind of customers you don 't want, my species, it 's like an open wound in a pool full of sharks and you are the dinner.

What you need to do is to increase the value of the property, simple things like painting the house adds 2 or 3 times the value of what you invested in the paint, so if for example, you spent a grand in paint the added value will be 2-3 grand, diy proyects like those where you don 't have to pay for it be done add value and you save in costs ( lipsticking ). How does your lawn look like ? How does your garden look like ? Forget about everything, be objective and critical, how does your house really looks like when you look at it ?

[roadwarrior]

There is a tv show called "Designed To Sell" that you should be watching. In addition to Raul's very good advise, you need to critically examine every room in your house. Eliminate clutter and rearrange the furniture to make evey room look bigger or cozy. Usually this means getting rid of about half the furniture and all the junk you have collected over the years!

Don't think buyers can "picture how it could be", make it that way!

Where to start? The garage...I'll bet that will be a challenge if it's anything like mine.

#1 Just get rid of your junk. The stuff that makes "a house a home" doesn't make it someone else's home.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdts

8-)

[ejtaylor822]

My apologies for the length

We sold our last house as a FSBO.  There was a FSBO seminar that was offered in our area that we went to one night.  Think it was $25 and worth every penny - highly recommend.  Going FSBO is not a bad option if you have the time to sell.  

There were several factors that led us to go FSBO:

1.      We had time

2.      We were in a high traffic area.

3.      Houses in our neighborhood moved VERY fast

Time this, to me is the most important part.  We were building so we had about 10 12 months to sell and we put our house up a month or so after we started building.  We mapped out a plan that we were going to follow:

0-3 months:  We would FSBO our self with flyers and free postings in the area.  Cost: printing flyers.  Our flyer was very SIMPLE.  People sometimes go overboard with these but ours was one sheet front and back that gave general information.

3-6 months:  List in the local FSBO magazine that would also get us in the MLS.  Cost: $250 - $500 depending upon the listing package.

After 6 months:   Interview and list with a real estate agent.

RW is spot on.  Sell your house at fair market value.  Do not take less just because you are not going to use an agent.  The $10K that you could sell for less because you are not using an agent, use that for concessions during negotiations allowances, home warranty, offer to pay for inspection, etc.  There are a number of web sites that will provide you a report for estimating the value of your home based upon recent sales in the area, comparable houses, tax records, valuations, etc.  Think the one we used cost $95.

Another reason not to discount the price, you have to consider that an agent might be needed eventually.  If you do have to list with an agent, they will be hesitant to raise your already discounted price will send a bad message to buyers who saw the asking price when FSBO.  So, what will happen is that your price will stay the same, but the agent will still take a commission then you are out more than just the $10K.  

Another reason for not discounting the price:  More than likely you will end up selling to a buyer with a buyer's agent.  In our area that commission is 2.5% to 3.5%.  So you need to find out the minimums and factor that into your asking price as well.  The lady that we sold our house too had a buyer's agent.  The first question out of her (agent) was are we willing to pay her commission?  My response was that we were not opposed to it, but would consider during negotiations just like stated on the flyer.  That was the end of it and we did pay her commission as part of the negotiating process.  Once again, do not discount your price.  Ask a fair market price and use the savings for leverage during negotiations.

Couple of things to keep in mind:  The first 20-50 fliers will go to your neighbors and people nearby.  So do not waste your best fancy paper and color printing on this first batch of fliers if that is an issue.  Be sure to note in your flyers that you Will work with brokers and buyers' agents with qualified buyers those last three words are the most crucial.  The agents and brokers will be ringing your phone off the hook the first few weeks - 90% of them are fishing.  Tell them you will work with them if they have qualified buyers.  They will try to push you into singing with them.  Tell them you have a plan do not give time frames and if your house hasn't moved by when you need it too, you will be interviewing agents and will contact them also, use this as an opportunity to pre-interview and screen agents in case you do have to list.  The first few weeks our house was on the market I logged every call.  After 30 calls I quit keeping track.  I probably got another 20-30 calls.

BTW do not let agents host an open house for you.  Several tried that with us.  This is a tactic for them that does not help you at all actually works against you.  They are looking to get people who would not normally go to an agent hosted open house but will go to FSBO open house.  The agent is looking to get these folks as a buyer's agent, and, show them other properties they may have.  This may take away a potential buyer.

One thing that we really got a lot of compliments on that was very helpful for us and buyers that I highly recommend - was that I put together a notebook about the house.  In it was information about the house taxes, evaluations, property disclosure (required by NC), manuals and warranties for appliances (we  replaced A/C, hot water, dishwasher disposal, etc.), recent power bills, recent water bills, information on schools, nearby restaurants, grocery stores, etc., lots of good pictures, pre-sales inspection report (do not get a full blown inspection as the buyer will probably want this anyway with their own inspector), offer to buy contract, and the report that showed how we based our price showed what other homes in the area was selling for.

Let me conclude by saying that I am not anti real estate agent.  Not at all.  After all the interviews with buyers, showings and phone calls, real estate agents earn their money.  It takes a lot of effort and can be very disruptive when you work full time and then have to take time to let total strangers into your house and give them a hosted tour.  We missed and had a lot of late suppers showing the house, but it was worth it.

When we sell the house we are in now we will probably go with agent because we are in an area that does not get a lot of traffic.  We will need the visibility that only an agent can provide.  But, if given the time

PM if you need anything else.  Will be happy to help anyway I can.

[FishingBuds]

Fisher of Men my brother, prayers for you and the wife

its tuff, did it myself too many times. I bought and sold FSBO on all my real estate. I have went thru a couple of realaters and yes they are good and knew the game but, it still came down to preferance.

You are getting great advice here on both sides. I don't see no one steering you wrong

If your up to it(which sounds like it) do the FSBO- I'd give it at least 60 days, once on the market realaters will come to you as well(keep in mind) this happened to me, but be aware that theres a claus on selling to a agents customer with out the agents involvment.

Hope for ya bro, I carried two mortgages for three years it was a long hall-keep the lord in it

[Sam]

Fisher,

True story.

Good friend and his family lived across street.

They moved and a local realtor had house for six months. Did not sell.

He tried to sell it for another four months.  No one interested.

Gave listing to another neighbor down the street and she sold it in one day.

When you buy diamonds - go to a jewler.

When you buy clothes - go to a clothing store.

When you buy a house - go to a realtor.

Good luck.

Sam

[Pond Hopper]

Like said before it is entirely based on the market and neighborhood you live in.  My dad lives in a cookie cutter, but very nice sub division that gets alot of notice and has alot of turnover.  He bought his house FSBO about 2 years ago and got a pretty good deal( I know, I did the financing).  Within the first year of him living there, 2 neighbors both sold their houses(same floor plan) and one went through a realtor and the other FSBO.  The FSBO home sold for $1500 less(on 175K homes) and sold 3 months sooner.  The same people had toured the other home and had no desire to hire a realtor or deal with one.  The other neighbors held their home longer and also lost out an additional 6% that was split between the selling and buying agent.  Regardless of what you read the market is tough now, but not as bad as you hear on TV(in most areas).  If you have a good FSBO website or network in your area and live in a good neighborhood, with good turnover, I would always try to seel the house FSBO for a few months before ever hiring a realtor.  My girlfriend is looking for a home right now and she is solely looking at FSBO homes as it is easier to get a better price as someone would rather give 3-4% in purchase price than have to go hire a realtor and pay 6%.   JMO but if you are in a decent market I would try and save a few $ and go FSBO.  If that does not work hire an agent.  

Another tip, which hit my emails today, dont count on anyone providing 100% financing, seems as those days are soon to be gone.  

Corey

[vicdotcom]

I havent sold a house FSBO but we recently purchased a house less than a year ago and maybe a perspective from the buyers point of view might be helpful.

We looked a few few FSBO houses before purchasing our house.  We loved our realtor and trusted her fully.  What we noticed about FSBO houses is that many of the homeowners werent willing to pay the 3% to our realtor for their fees.  Some were only willing to pay 1.5% of the buyers realtors fees.  That forced us into a position where we would need to buy the house without a realtor or pay the fees out of our own pocket.  

Well we didnt look at many FSBO houses after that.  And with the market the way it is now, we had many many options to look at.

So basically if you are going FSBO without a realtor, keep in mind that many buyers are using a realtor and would have to cover their realtor's fees that are customarily paied for by the seller.

Good luck with the sale though!  I was lucky to have a great realtor.

Vic

[FishingBuds]

Another tip, which hit my emails today, dont count on anyone providing 100% financing, seems as those days are soon to be gone.

Corey

;D ya got that right ;D

seen today on tv " special public announcement on foreclosed properties"   "we have a bunch" :

[Pond Hopper]

Another tip, which hit my emails today, dont count on anyone providing 100% financing, seems as those days are soon to be gone.  

Corey

;D ya got that right ;D

seen today on tv " special public announcement on foreclosed properties"   "we have a bunch" :

Well I got an email from 15 different lenders today stating that FNMA My Community and Flex products were now going to be limited to 97%.   Times are getting tough and restrictions are tightening.