Selling House FSBO - Anyone Done It?

[Bales9er]

Considering selling my house FSBO and was just wondering if anyone on here has had any experience with it. Seems pretty straightforward based on my research but it always helps to hear advice from anyone who has done it before.

[Alan]

This isn't going to be much help, but I semi-tried. I paid a guy $500 to list my house on all the major real estate websites, however if a realtor brought a buyer and it sold I would still pay them their 3% commission. It was during a crappy time to sell, so I ended up renting the house, and eventually sold it to an investor for cash(no fees).

[dfw_pilot]

Yes and No.

We started out with FSBO but our moving time frame moved up and we hired a local agent because I didn't want to have to start doing showings on our old house that would be 1000 miles away. Having said that, the person who bought our house found it on the website I made and asked if I had an agent or not. (At that point we had one, so I was obligated to do the deal with our agent, but if I hadn't brought in the agent, we could have saved a lot of money).

Here are the things we did:
1) Buy a $12 domain name for your address. Ours (since lapsed) was GroveportHome.com but you could also do something like 1505CherryStreet.com
2) Build a free/super cheap WordPress website for your home. Take your own pictures or hire someone and get really nice clutter free photos of your property, the more the better. WordPress has a fantastic slide show that works great for this. Have a contact page, an About the Community page, links to local parks, attractions, bike trails, etc, and you can even include a mortgage calculator.
3) Optional, but smart, is to buy a flat fee MLS listing for MUCH better views for around $500
4) Start a Facebook Page for your home
5) Start a Twitter Page for your home. Social media is a way to blast out ideas, thoughts, tips, fun info, things about your house, etc, that draw up interest. It also shows you are motivated to sell.
6) List on Craig's List
7) We used BuildaSign.com to make four really nice signs that also listed our website domain name and put them (legally) around town. Then we put a nicer one in the front yard. INFO TUBES are so 90's. Make a website and/or QR Code for your sign and be ahead of the pack, and then you don't need to refill the tube or worry about them getting wet.

I might be able to fire up our old WordPress site if I have time. It's fun! Good luck!

[dfw_pilot]

Here is our old example site: Example Home Site

The pictures are no longer there because I didn't export them when I took the site down. However, use your imagination and spend time getting good photos. Use a wide angle lens and a tripod. (I used a 14mm lens).

Edit: Added the photos. Fun!!

[Alan]

Another thing is, that you have to be available to show your home whenever it's convenient to a potential buyer. If family members work full-time, then sometimes it's not convenient for you to show it at the time the potential buyer wants to see it. My deal was number 3) on dfw's list, plus they also included putting a key holding device on the door so that other realtors could get in and show the house whenever they wanted. I had a yard sign too, but that's probably a given.

[turf_toes]

Nothing ever truly goes away on the intertubes! (Thanks to the way back machine)

http://web.archive.org/web/201102021739 ... _Home.html


Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

[dfw_pilot]

Good find! I actually thought that page was still on our server, but I can't find it so I must have "deleted" it. The way back machine is fun! Check out employers old sites, Apple, American Airlines, etc.

[Bales9er]

Thanks for the suggestions, I was definitely thinking about the MLS Entry Only listing and the professional pictures but a lot of the other ideas I hadn't come across. We are hoping to list it after getting a few things cleaned up this weekend so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

[kevreh]

I've sold 3 of my own homes, saved some major $$$. My tips, based on local terms and offerings;

- Search for local companies that list on the MLS for you (or whats its called in your state). This is the same system realtors use.

- Often times the same companies offer other services. One thing to get is an electric lock box with your key that only agents can use. Allows them to let themselves in. Not sure if all states do this.

- You'll need to do your own marketing including listing description, ads in local papers, open houses, etc... Learn the places homes are marketed in your area.

- You'll need to do market research. Checkout realtor.com and zillow.com. Again, same place that lists your home may be able to offer market comps too.

- Be reasonable with pricing. Don't want to scare away realtors because you're not in line with market comps.

- Present yourself as reasonable and responsive. You also need to wear you salesman hat since you'll be the one marketing it.

- Understand the process (getting an offer, understanding a good or bad offer, responding). Oddly, you may have to rely on the buyers agent here a bit to walk you through the process. If you bought a house you should know things for the most part.

- Be knowledgable of the condition your house is in. Does it need a new roof/carpet/stove/bathroom/...... All these things add up and will be used "against you" in an offer. If you haven't updated or maintained your house this could be tricky. Buyers agents will eagerly try to lower their offer because of your houses shortcommings. There's a house up the street from me thats been on market 2-3x longer then any other house. Guess what, the lady is asking the same price as every other house like hers but she hasn't updated the house in 30+ years! Place is frozen in time.

There's a fair amount to learn. But for each house I've sold I've maybe put 20-30 hours into all the above while saving at least $10k. I have no problem working so few hours for so much $ roi. But it takes a certain kind of person who enjoys doing this. Someone not averse to risk, doesn't mind negotiating, and has fun with the process.



Kevin

[Pennstater2005]

A little perspective from the other side.

My wife and I purchased our first home without an agent. We went to the sellers house and sat down with them and drew up a contract that had everything each side wanted in it. Then we had a home inspection done (he wasn't so good). Then we got the ball rolling on the mortgage and contacted a real estate attorney in town who only needed the contract. He told us he would contact us about a month and would be in contact with the mortgage lender to coordinate everything for us. Then we got the homeowners insurance/property taxes set for escrow and that was it. It was a pretty smooth experience and I honestly didn't have to do very much to get it done. I would definitely do it that way again if I was to purchase another home, if it was an option.

[Bales9er]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Good news is we had it on Zillow for 1 week and have accepted an offer that was above asking price! No MLS listing or anything, held an open house on Saturday and got 3 offers out of it. The market in our area is crazy right now. Keeping our fingers crossed that the inspection, appraisal and closing all go smoothly. Thanks again for the info!

[dfw_pilot]

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paulr]

Hey Cool! Congrats fellow Western Mass lawn geek.
Was going to say we had success buying and selling without out an agent as well.
I'm a DIYer, in my personal opinion I have little use for agents...the one house we did buy with an agent, he really didn't do anything for us.

[Bales9er]

Thanks paul! I agree, I just didn't see the value in hiring an agent and so far so good with that decision.

[HomerGuy]

I am in a similar boat. Just listed my house for sale with a flat fee Realtor. The big advantage with going this route as opposed to FSBO is getting on the MLS. Like it or not, the MLS is a monopoly but is where the majority of homes are sold.

We opted for "full service" flat fee where the flat fee agent will help with negotiations, contracts, etc. I'm not sure how much of that is totally necessary, but it was only a few bucks more so we figured why not. We are essentially paying the flat fee agent .2% instead of 3%, potentially saving thousands of dollars. We are still offering 3% commission to the buyers agent so as not to scare any potential buyers away.

I'm still a little leery of the flat fee arrangement as the listing reads slightly different then a traditional realtor, but we will see. Given the potential cost savings we figured it was worth a shot as we are not under any particular hurry to sell.

I'm sure there is more to the real estate business than meets the eye, but 6% commission is just soooo much money. The internet has brought so much of the information to the public. The vast majority of the sales comp information is public record on the internet, you just need the time and energy to find it. Even 15 years ago you needed an agent to help you search for houses. Now I can do it in my underwear on my smartphone.

I look at real estate commissions in the same way I do taxes. If people had to write one check every year for all of their income, property, & sales taxes I guarantee that our tax rates would be lower. Because people would be absolutely floored at how much money it amounts to in total. But instead, the taxes are deducted from your paycheck, included in your mortgage escrow, or tacked onto each purchase. Each tax payment is relatively small and spaced out so as not to be too intrusive. But if you ever had to pay in one lump sump you would panic. I think real estate commissions are the same way. The money just comes out at the settlement and is never really seen.

Not to harp on realtors, and we are prepared to use a traditional realtor if the flat fee thing doesn't work out, but the potential cost savings were just too much to pass up.

[Bales9er]

Just an FYI and i know our markets are in completely different parts of the country but we found out that if you don't list on MLS here the buyers agents are not entitled to any commission and even if you do they will accept 2% commission instead of 3%. We didnt use MLS but still offered the 2% which i do think made a difference. May be worth looking into in your area to save 1% if you can.

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