Posts Tagged sell your own home
“Sell Your Own Home” Frequently Asked Questions
Posted by Deane in Miscellaneous on October 29, 2009
As an experienced real estate investor who teaches homeowners how to sell their house “for sale by owner” or FSBO, I find many people tend to have the same questions.
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about selling your home yourself:
Q: How do I know if I’ve “got what it takes” to sell my own house?
A: If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you are an excellent candidate to sell your own home:
- Do you have basic computer skills? Can you surf the net, shop, and fill out basic forms online? If you do, then you will have no trouble doing your FSBO marketing, such as placing your flat fee MLS listing.
- Can you devote 4-5 hours on you initial FSBO marketing? (Remember, you will a lot of time not having to research and find an agent, and then meet with them to fill out their paperwork.)
- Are you open to seeking additional education? Most seller’s “don’t know what they don’t know” and this is where they can fall into trouble.
Q: It seems that I’ll need to do a lot of computer and internet stuff. I’m no “techie”. Can the average person can handle it?
A: Since you have gotten as far as reading this article online, I’d say absolutely! If I can do this, you can do this! I am not a tech person AT ALL. (Compared to the guys in my family, my computer skills are downright primitive!) The most difficult technical thing you’ll do for your FSBO marketing is download digital photos of your house. If you don’t know how, I’m sure you know someone that can show you. Do you know anyone under the age of 25? They’ll know how!
Q: Does selling your home yourself take a lot of extra time? Especially the marketing?
A: It depends! The marketing can if you have to put together a good marketing plan from scratch, then research and test to find the best internet-based tools and services. But once you have these things, I’d plan on an initial 4 hours to get all your marketing set up and 2 – 3 hours per week to talk to buyers and show your house.
Actually, having an agent takes a lot of time! Just trying to pick a good one, meeting and signing the listing agreement, and continually being in touch with your agent takes as much time as doing all your marketing yourself!
Q: Will my FSBO marketing cost me very much?
A: ABSOLUTELY NOT! If you went “all out” with your FSBO marketing, getting custom FSBO signs, a flat fee MLS listing, and place a FSBO listing on a the most popular “for sale by owner” site, you’d spend around $800. But I’ve sold houses spending under $100! There are at least a dozen excellent places to advertise for free online. The number one place for effective free advertising is Craigslist.
Q: I worry about having the right “for sale by owner” forms and documents. Isn’t there a lot of paperwork and documents I have to handle?
A: Again, not really! A standard “for sale by owner” contract is a relatively uncomplicated document. The standard realtor sales contract is much longer because much of it is to protect them, not you. You can get a sales contract, addendum, and any disclosures required in your state from a title company or purchase a FSBO documents package online.
Q: Will selling my own house make it more difficult to sell than if I used a realtor?
A: Definitely not, if you price it right, get it ready right, and market it right.
Q: I really want to sell my own house. But I’m scared. Where to begin? I’m afraid of the details I don’t know.
A: The fact that you realize you don’t know all there is to know is a wonderful thing! Really. I see too many homeowners jump into selling their house, think they know it all, and don’t have a clue what they are doing. You can get into some serious trouble that way.
You are right, “the devil is in the details”. That is particularly true in real estate. There are a lot of details you n
eed to know about. Some mistakes could cost you a lot of time and money, or even a lawsuit. So don’t just jump into selling your home yourself without first doing a little research.
Why not save yourself a lot of time, trouble, and worry when you sell your own home? Find out more. Sign up for “knock your socks off” FSBO tips at The Truth About FSBO today!
Mistakes Not to Make When Selling Your Own House
Posted by Deane in Preparation, Uncategorized on October 29, 2009
Home and Garden TV has identified common mistakes to avoid if you want to sell your own home quickly and for the most profit.
- Waiting until spring to sell.
- Not understanding the real estate contract.
- Going it alone without researching first.
- Ignoring lowball offers.
- Wasting time on an unqualified buyer.
- Skimping on marketing.
- Sabotaging the showing.
- Not having your house in top showing condition.
- Over-improving.
- Overpricing.
And if you are an owner of “The Truth About FSBO”, you already know all this 
!
Thank you to “The State”, South Carolina’s Homepage” for bringing my attention to this article from HGTV.
Selling Your Own Home and Got an Offer? It’s Not Just About Price!
Posted by Deane in Administration on October 14, 2009
Y
ou decided to sell your own home and now you’ve gotten an offer! Do you know for certain what you need to do next?
First you need to respond to the offer. You can either accept, reject, or make a counter offer. You should always make a counter offer. It’s expected. If you said “yes” right away, the buyer would feel they offered you too much! If you just flat out say, “no!” you could lose a potential deal. Don’t take getting a low offer personally or get angry with the potential buyers. They are doing what is in their best interest. When you are a buyer, you might even do the same!
Agents make offers and negotiate via faxed contracts. So when selling your home yourself, feel free to use fax or email to make counter offers. It’s never a bad idea to have everything in writing to avoid misunderstandings anyway.
Since you are selling your own home, you must provide the proper sales contract and disclosures. If you don’t have a “for sale by owner” contract and you’ve gotten an offer, you better get one NOW!
If you are working with a title company, you should be able to get one from them. If not, you can purchase a state specific “for sale by owner” contract online.
I recommend Standard Legal. Their “FSBO Home Sale Package” provides you a state-specific “for sale by owner” contract and disclosures, as well as other “for sale by owner” forms to make the administrative part of the sale easy, safe, and foolproof. They also offer a Legal Document Preparation Service, where they’ll provide custom, fully completed documents for a very reasonable fee. All you have to do is sign! What could make the daunting task of handling the paperwork to sell your house easier?
The “for sale by owner” contract you will be using will be a relatively simple document compared to the standard contract that realtors use. Much of what is in the standard realtor contract is there to protect them, not you or the buyer.
Before getting the sales contract signed, you and your buyer will need to agree on the following terms. It’s not just about the price!
SALES PRICE
Remember to take into account real estate commissions. If your buyer is working with an agent, your commission will usually be 3%. If your buyer isn’t working with an agent, there will be NO commission to be paid!
EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT
At the sales contract signing, a buyer needs to give you an earnest money deposit, made out to the agreed upon title company. Typically, you want to collect at least 1% of the sale price.
DOWN PAYMENT
This is the amount of money the buyer needs to come up with at closing from a source besides their loan. The minimum amount needed is determined by the loan program the buyer will be using.
CLOSING COSTS
Decide how the closing costs will be divided. Some buyers will ask for closing cost assistance. In many parts of the country, the division of closing costs is customary. However, this is a point that can be negotiated.
In my state they are usually divided 50/50; however, a seller can offer to pay 100% if that would make the difference between the deal going through or not. Talk to your mortgage broker about how this would work with the particular loan program your buyer is using.
CONTINGENCIES
Contingencies let buyers cancel a contract without penalty. It is in your best interest for there to be as few contingencies as possible. Some typical ones include loan, inspections, appraisal, and contract contingent on buyers selling their own home.
OTHER PROPERTY
Generally, everything attached to the house stays with it. If you really want to take your fridge with you, you need to put that in the contract.
DATE OF POSSESSION
Decide on a date that you and the buyer want to close.
When you come to an agreement on the price and all the terms, a sales contract will be signed by both you and the buyer. Any required disclosures will need to be signed, too. These differ by each state, but some examples are lead paint, notice of defect, and mold.
When you and the buyer are signing the sales contract, the buyer also needs to provide an earnest money deposit, made out to the name of the title company that will handle the closing.
When you have done all this, your house is now officially “under contract”! Whoo-hoo!
