The number one reason people would consider selling their house on their own without the help of a REALTOR® is they want to save the commission. But in reality, it’s not that easy and in most cases it will cost you more. If you’re considering this, read on. 1. How much should you ask for your house? You should ask market value. How do you determine market value? Call me and I can provide you a Comparable Market Analysis showing what other comparable properties have sold in your area, and I’ll do it at no charge. I do this because if you do decide to list your house with an agent, I hope you would call me. You’ve decided on an asking price. What’s next? Marketing and how are you going to do that? Put a sign in your yard; put an ad in the paper, but wait, who reads the paper anymore and especially the classifieds? Did you know that the National Association of REALTORS® found that 87% of people looking for a house to buy, start looking on the internet? ( Source: 2008 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers) Check out my “About Us” page. I am e-PRO certified which means I have had specialized training on utilizing the internet for marketing real estate. 2. Suppose you do get a call from someone who is interested in seeing your house and maybe buying it. How do you know if those strangers have the money to buy it or can get a loan? If I had your house listed, I would ensure every prospective buyer I brought there to see it would either have the money in the bank or be pre-qualified with a mortgage broker or lender with paper in hand proving it. Talking about having buyers look at your house, will you be available every day? Or do you work during the day and would only be able to show it in the evening or on weekends? Currently in this market, we have over 6 months of inventory available. What that means is that if no other houses came on the market to sell, it would take over 6 months to sell the houses we do have on the market. Buyers are not going to wait to see your house when they have so many to choose from. And REALTORS® can get them in to see the houses that are listed whenever they want, the owners do not have to be home. 3. Who is normally interested in buying FSBO houses? Not the buyers who are working with agents. Agents won’t show houses that are not listed because they’re not going to get paid. Who’s left? INVESTORS. And what are investors looking for? DEALS. They know the reason you’re selling the house yourself is that you don’t want to pay a commission. So what they do is to take your asking price and reduce it by the amount of the normal agent commission. Then, being investors, they want a deal, so they’re going to offer even less after that. They’ll also probably ask you to leave that nice area rug in the living room that you really like, or leave the washer, dryer and refrigerator. If you say no, they’ll use that as a reason to reduce their offer even more. The thing here is that you will be negotiating with the buyer face to face. If you’re not used to this it can be pretty uncomfortable. With your house listed with me, I would do the negotiating for you. You would not see or talk to the buyer. Say you’ve agreed on a price with a buyer. Now comes the paperwork. Are you going to draw the contract up yourself or get your attorney to do it? If you do it yourself, do you know what forms are required by law? What Title company will you use, where will you close? An attorney can help you with all this and it will cost you. Also, who will be staying in touch with the buyers, and the buyer’s lender, and the title company, to keep the process on track? Not the attorney. I use contracts that are drawn up by attorneys and promulgated by the Texas Association of REALTORS®. I work with different Title Companies and know which ones work better than others. And I talk to everyone associated with the transaction to resolve problems, get needed information, schedule closings, and solve problems to ensure a smooth transaction. There is a lot more. If you are considering selling the house yourself, call me first so we can discuss your requirements and timelines. In most cases you’ll find it will cost you less to use a REALTOR® than to try and sell it yourself. Not to mention the stress and aggravation that goes along with doing it yourself. |