For Sale by Owner...

[Pin Wizard]

Who has done this? What was your experience. I have a friend that sold his home this way without any problems. Said the worst of it was closing. I'm not sure which way to go...this or a realtor!!

 

[floridaminnie]

If you do BO, get yourself a good real estate attorney to do the closing for you. I would see how much an attorney would cost versus going through a real estate agent.

 

[Carl]

Do you intend to owner finance? This is the problem I had with attempting to sell "by owner." Everyone who inquires about your house will be expecting you to be financing the house. People seem to assume that "by owner" means selling and financing. The main advantage in selling through a realtor is that they have MLS to list your house all over the country. Not only the realtor who lists your house will have access to the information, but also all realtors who subscribe to MLS. If you do decide to sell the house yourself, all you need is a good title company to handle the closing. Even if you use a realtor, they let the title company handle the closing anyway. Your title company can provide you with an earnest money contract for you to have your buyers sign. The difficulty is that unless you are financing or the buyers are paying cash, they must know how to find a mortgage company. Most people let the realtor suggest a mortgage company to them, so buyers are not used to doing this for themselves.

 

[Lori-n-NY]

I tried for sale by owner about three summers ago and after 6 weeks and having two open houses and only about 10 phone calls from the newspaper ad I gave it to a realtor and it sold in one week.
They have the ability to get the fact that its for sale out to every realtor via MLS and every realtor looking for houses for their buyers will notice when a new house was put on the market.
My realtor put in in the system on a Friday night and told me by middle of next week people will start to look at it, well on Sat morning my realtor called and said three different people were coming over Sat afternoon. The second person to look at it was the one that bought it.
I did have the price a little lower when for sale by owner because there is no realtor fees to pay except you could have to pay the buyer realtor fee??? ( can be discussed and included in price)
So when I listed it I upped the price and was able to sell for that price. I was worried that someone who saw the ad will remember the selling price then and not be interested knowing it is higher now but it was not a problem for me.

If you try FSBO set yourself a time limit and if no luck then reconsider a realtor. Good luck.

Lori

 

[tiggerlover]

I don't have any first hand experience, but I do have a friend that just bought a house that was a FSBO. There is a website, www.forsalebyowner.com you may be able to get some more information here.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Thanks, everyone! Hmmmmmmmmmmm...still puzzled. I have a realtor in my neighborhood who has been answering my questions, making suggestions. Of course, I told him that if it doesn't work out with my neighbor that's interested, he gets a listing! He said he could sell it no problem!! And he told me about all the advertising he would do. Thanks again, and cross your fingers for me!

 

[nativetxn]

I've never tried to sell a house at all. Good luck with this, I hope you sell your house quickly

 

[Robinrs]

As a future realtor, and knowing what I know about the real estate business, I'd advise you to let him have it. It's not an easy job to do, that's the reason you need a professional to handle it. Getting the house ready is enough work, let someone else do the dirty work!

Good luck!

Robinrs