Selling a house - for sale by owner sites

[MomtoMMKO]

Has anyone ever used one of the for sale by owners/MLS listing sites to sell their home? We are thinking about putting our house up for sale and would like to do it the least expensive way. Thanks!

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

We tried for several weeks. Placed ads in craigslist, newspaper, signs around home and surrounding area, etc. Unfortunately, with the economy being the way it is and definately being a buyers market, we got zip! We ended up turning it over to a real estate agent and have had 9 showings in less than two weeks. I think the mls exposure is what is really needed at this point and time. I should also add that we are on a serious time line with hubby already being down in FL. Good luck!

 

[a1tinkfans]

In todays real estate market it may be a wiser decision to use the service of a professional that can weed out people that really do not qualify, have possible issues and such and not waste your time.
We sold our home ourselves, but it was years back, a different housing market, and we had an attorney that was on call for us to handle everything, ran financial checks for us and we sold quickly to a relative of an already existing neighbor, talk about LUCK!
I think that if you are trying to save Money, you may actually spend more in time, more effort and more aggravation by trying to do it all yourself and it will likely take longer to sell on your own, the RE people have the "ins" they know who would likely be interested and actually be able to purchase from you, thus moving it along faster. And even that is taking longer sometimes...
Good Luck deciding, I think that it can be done on your own, but that it will be much tougher and more expansive in both your time, energy, $, and aggravation, than you may be thinking, at this time in our economy!

 

[KristenF]

I will tell you first hand, We found 38 houses in the area we were interested in. Knocked out 50% cause it was FSBO. I didnt want to deal with it. Negotiations, inspections, contracts all thru the realtors. LESS headache!

 

[HM]

We tried it for a couple months. We weren't happy with the service and ended up going with a realtor we knew. (This was in 2005).

 

[bellarella]

How much time do you have to sell?

The problem with FSBO is that you aren't going to get people with buyer's agents, unless you are offering a commission to them, and even then they probably aren't going to want to show your place because selling your house is going to mean more work for them.

Also, most buyers that go look at FSBO are pretty savvy. They are going to look at comps and see where your price fits in. They will probably factor in the lack of commission into their offer. You may not actually see any more money out of the deal.

 

[HM]

How much time do you have to sell?

The problem with FSBO is that you aren't going to get people with buyer's agents, unless you are offering a commission to them, and even then they probably aren't going to want to show your place because selling your house is going to mean more work for them.

Also, most buyers that go look at FSBO are pretty savvy. They are going to look at comps and see where your price fits in. They will probably factor in the lack of commission into their offer. You may not actually see any more money out of the deal.

Oh and I agree on this. We once looked at a FSBO. We checked comps and came in with an offer that met those comps minus the selling commission. They looked at us like we were crazy offering them that and said No. No problem, we kept looking and eventually found a house we liked much better.

 

[CouponAngie]

As a realtor, my advice to you If you are going to sell your home "By Owner", would be to find a realtor who can list your property on the MLS for a flat fee. Some realtors will do this for you. It's a simple service with no "bells and whistles". You would have to do your own photos, etc, but at least it's an inexpensive way to get your home marketed to the masses. Approx 90% of homes sold are a result of the buyer finding them on the MLS.

 

[MomtoMMKO]

op here- Thank you all for your responses and suggestions. We are not in a rush to sell at all so we have plenty of time.

 

[Darcy03231]

My parents sold their home on their own. They listed it on I Sold my House.com. It was in a hot market and it took them a couple of months, but they did eventually sell it.

 

[Coach K]

I recently settled on my house as a FSBO. There are web sites that will list on the MLS for a fee (usually around $500-). As PP stated, you have do all of the leg work-photos, description, etc. You also decide what commission to give an agent who comes in with a buyer (usually 2 1/2-3% of the selling price). My biggest advise-get a real estate lawyer. I had an agent look at my house and he said that even if he didn't sell the house, that he would sit with me at closing and check all of the paper work for $1500. My lawyer charged $1200. The lawyer will help you with all of the township rules and regulations. If there is no time factor involved, then you can save a good chunk of change. I saved about $5000-6000. The original offer was from an agent who wanted the house for himself. He dropped out all of a sudden one day during the negotiation process-we were only $5000 apart and I was going to take his next offer. The next offer I took but there was a contingency that they had to sell their house but I was allowed to still show mine. Another couple came in and offered $10,000 more and they couldn't match it. I actually had agents call and yell at me because I sold the house and they had people interested in it! I told them if you snooze, you lose!! It can be done by yourself, but there is a lot of research involved. Check the local papers and open houses, Craigslist, Zillow and the MLS to get an idea about pricing your house-this is very important. Good luck!!!

 

[MomtoMMKO]

Coach K - Thank you for the advise on getting a real estate lawyer. It looks like all your hard work paid off! We just started looking into the FSBO way. We are ready to move from a cramped subdivision to a house with a little acreage.