FS by Owner

[TXBowhunter11]

School me on how to sell your home yourself. What is there to watch out for? Best do's and don't.


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[Pineywoods]

After the HUGE paycheck my buddy/realtor got after our last two house deals, I will be looking into this as well. He even gave us a deal compared to the percentage most charge. He really had to do very little for the amount of money he got. We had friends that sold their home themselves a couple years ago and said it was simple according to them. They paid a realtor a flat fee of like $500 to list the home on MLS, like har.com, realtor.com etc. This is where most shop for homes and will be a huge advantage in getting more people to see it. I'm not sure if they hired a photographer or if they took the pics themselves but the home sold in about a month and they saved 10-12k. The title company does a lot of the work. When we sell this home and move up to country eventually, I will go this route. Houses sell themselves around here if they are priced right.

[meangreen]

Housepad.com is the one I have used for the past two houses I have sold. Their rates are the best I found and the process went very smooth.

[meangreen]

We made a habit of making beds up and cleaning the house before we went to work every day. Some realtors if they are already showing a house in the area will not give you much notice. I am self employed so I was there for every showing just in case they had any questions and so I didn't have to put a lock box on.

[Gbird]

I would first do some comps for your home so you know exactly how much to ask for. You don't want to price yourself out of a sale or give your house away at a too low price. I'd also get a home inspection so you know what major items need to be addressed and will help your potential buyer out in the long run. As far as advertising, you could put a sign in your yard and it may sell. If it doesn't, you should see about getting it in the paper, on tv, on social media, etc. Also, realize that you will not be on the MLS system, so realtors will not be knocking your door down to show your property. Curb appeal is also going to be a draw for you, so clean out your flowerbeds. I'd also find a good real estate attorney to help you when you do have a transaction. Before you count a realtor out, remember, you can always bargain with them to possibly sell your home at a cheaper rate than the usual 6%. My wife, who is a realtor, will often drop her rate to 4 or 5 percent to gain business. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

[Pedernal]

Find a title company and get a blank contract. contracts are pre-written with blanks where things such as who pays what part of the closing fees. There are quite a bit of blank closing costs is just one example. Read said contract and determine how you may want to negotiate the blanks. Once you have a buyer and are agreeable on price and such, hire a lawyer to make sure it's in your best interest. The peeps at the title company will be very helpful or at least they were when I did mine. I did not hire a lawyer as my sale was a small, older home and everything was pretty straight forward. We even did owner financing myself, wrote it into the contract and made a buck on interest.

[justintyme8303]

School me on how to sell your home yourself. What is there to watch out for? Best do's and don't.


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You can tell a listing agent what you are willing to pay them dont fall for the old 6% is what is cost to list/sell your home. You can also say how that % gets split with the buyers agent too.

But FSBO is not hard and if you are willing to pay a buyers agent put that on your sign "will work with agents". When they contact you tell them what you are willing to pay if they bring a buyer just remember they rep the buyer not you even though your paying them.

[hunt247]

We have sold our last 2 house's For sale by owner. Saved lots of doe!

[rjet]

I have been looking into this lately.
For $400 you can list with FSBO.com and your home will be put on MLS and posted to sites like zillow and trulia.
One website I found even provided a lockbox for the front door (forget the site though).

[justintyme8303]

I have been looking into this lately.
For $400 you can list with FSBO.com and your home will be put on MLS and posted to sites like zillow and trulia.
One website I found even provided a lockbox for the front door (forget the site though).

Just got to store and buy a combo lockbox. when agent calls get their lic # pull them up on TREC to verify them then you can give them the combo. Have a sign in sheet of all agents to sign too.

[Patton]

Before you count a realtor out, remember, you can always bargain with them to possibly sell your home at a cheaper rate than the usual 6%. My wife, who is a realtor, will often drop her rate to 4 or 5 percent to gain business. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

So Mr. Seller, you've already found an agent who will sell your home for 5%? Oh 4%, wow even lower and 'cheaper' for you. Have you considered the fact that you already out-negotiated the person who you are interested in having sell your home and represent your needs during this transaction? How confident are you that they can stand their ground on the price you want your home sold for? In the end, will you really be saving any money on that lower commission split if your house doesn't sell for the value that it's actually worth?

Oh you would like me to come up with something creative, outside of the typical 3%/3% commision split? I have an idea- how about 4% and 3%? I'm a fair guy and open to whatever you think is fair. I think commissions have been 6% for as long as they have because it just works. It keeps me motivated and makes me want to work hard…..plus I enjoy having a little cushion to throw at the deal when we get down to the wire and everyone is about to kill a deal over a $2,000 repair. I’m not greedy and happy to chip in when and if needed. Let’s start with 6% and I’m sure you’ll feel you’re getting the service you paying for.

Not stirring the pot or starting anything- but share those two responses with your wife. They have helped me.

[4x4 AG]

I can speak to both sides of this argument/ discussion. I have sold a few houses, and have used a FSBO type of agent. He charged $500 to list the house on HAR. Yes, i saved alot of money, but I carried the stress and had to deal with the buyers agents. Scheduling, contract reviews and acceptance, and closing. It was a headache. If you want to do all the extra work, it will save you some money, but it does take alot of time.

I also, now, have a RE license and do agent deals. There are alot of super smart and crafty agents out there. For the typical average joe, they will try to get at you. In RE there are really great agents, and there are others that are not so great and will try to take advantage of an unsuspecting seller. I get that the 3%/3% seems like alot of money for nothing. But I can tell you, as an hourly rate over a year it aint much. Unless you are running a team that turns tons of deals.

Good Luck. Just food for thought.

[texan4ut]

Just remember when you do FSBO the typical buyer will take you price and reduce it by 6% because you don't have to pay a Realtor. You only have one house to show, most realtors have many they can show their clients and buyers do like to shop and compare. If you are going to let Realtors show your property and try and sell it they are still going to want a 3% co-broke commission. Another thing to think about a FSBO home will usually will take longer to market sometimes as much as 60 days longer so that is two more house payments that you will make. Good luck though. I am not a Realtor I am a Real Estate Appraiser and those are just my observations of the last 30+ years in the business.

[justintyme8303]

So Mr. Seller, you've already found an agent who will sell your home for 5%? Oh 4%, wow even lower and 'cheaper' for you. Have you considered the fact that you already out-negotiated the person who you are interested in having sell your home and represent your needs during this transaction? How confident are you that they can stand their ground on the price you want your home sold for? In the end, will you really be saving any money on that lower commission split if your house doesn't sell for the value that it's actually worth?

Oh you would like me to come up with something creative, outside of the typical 3%/3% commision split? I have an idea- how about 4% and 3%? I'm a fair guy and open to whatever you think is fair. I think commissions have been 6% for as long as they have because it just works. It keeps me motivated and makes me want to work hard…..plus I enjoy having a little cushion to throw at the deal when we get down to the wire and everyone is about to kill a deal over a $2,000 repair. I’m not greedy and happy to chip in when and if needed. Let’s start with 6% and I’m sure you’ll feel you’re getting the service you paying for.

Not stirring the pot or starting anything- but share those two responses with your wife. They have helped me.

I see this type of reply alot when someone says they will discount their fee to gain clients other agents start saying the services go down too. But i see it as a sign of the times since way more people want to save money and go FSBO so agents are willing to work for less. The ones that dont want to lower their rates just work less. In the end the seller will tell the agent how firm the price is not the other way around.

And with less money tied up in commissions the seller can and will pay some odd fee or give a credit for a repair to close the deal if needed.

JMO


I deal with buyers and dont drive people all over town that way of showing homes is long gone. They get pre-approved, sit at a computer to find the homes they can afford and most know before we leave the office which are the top 2 they just cant live without. I also work as a discount agent rebate 1% at closing (50/50 for Vets and first responders) more if needed. Level of service is the same no matter what i get paid thats how i get referrals good services at a good price. Good price and bad services = no referrals go out of business.

[Gbird]

So Mr. Seller, you've already found an agent who will sell your home for 5%? Oh 4%, wow even lower and 'cheaper' for you. Have you considered the fact that you already out-negotiated the person who you are interested in having sell your home and represent your needs during this transaction? How confident are you that they can stand their ground on the price you want your home sold for? In the end, will you really be saving any money on that lower commission split if your house doesn't sell for the value that it's actually worth?

Oh you would like me to come up with something creative, outside of the typical 3%/3% commision split? I have an idea- how about 4% and 3%? I'm a fair guy and open to whatever you think is fair. I think commissions have been 6% for as long as they have because it just works. It keeps me motivated and makes me want to work hard…..plus I enjoy having a little cushion to throw at the deal when we get down to the wire and everyone is about to kill a deal over a $2,000 repair. I’m not greedy and happy to chip in when and if needed. Let’s start with 6% and I’m sure you’ll feel you’re getting the service you paying for.

Not stirring the pot or starting anything- but share those two responses with your wife. They have helped me.

Typically my wife does go for the 6%. The reduced rate is usually reserved for friends/family and my co-workers who are PD/FD/ER employees. If she can gain their business, it allows her to put her signs in their yards. We don't pay for billboards, tv spots with her name, or any other advertising. That being said, my wife is a stay at home mommy first and a realtor second. That does NOT mean that she doesn't give her clients attention. It just allows her to stay at home with our kiddos without us having to pay for a babysitter. She has dropped her commission many times, like you stated, to "get the deal done". I work full time and we don't have to have my wife's commissions. But, when we do get them, they are nice and we try to either pay off a bill or take a vacation with that money. My wife has even had other realtors make disparaging comments to her because she is so willing to take a cut to get some business or get a deal done.