Your Home Orlando

For Sale by Owner

The most obvious reason why sellers try to sell their house by themselves is they are trying to save money on commission. With this in mind, you might question why less than 20% end up selling without professional assistance. It might have something to do with expertise, knowledge and experience. The majority of homeowners after trying to sell themselves realize this job requires a tremendous level of knowledge, experience and commitment.

Did you know that, statistically, real estate professional can sell a house for 16% higher than a For Sale by Owner? That means that not only you can afford commission, but you are still going to net with more money, and you are released from all the stress you are going to go through if you try to sell your house yourself.

This page is going to explain the whole process of selling your house, also explain advantages and disadvantages of selling your home by yourself.

The Advantages of Selling Your Home by Yourself

You might be able to save on commission

The Disadvantages of Selling Your Home by yourself

Security become a major issue, as you are going to let strangers into your house

Most people are not sure how to prepare their house for showings

Almost 90% of homebuyers start their search on Internet. So without Internet presence you risk to loose a lot of potential buyers.

A lot of buyers are being relocated through their job. Most big corporations and companies use third party relocation companies. These third party relocation companies will often work only through approved real estate brokers and their professional. So you would be missing a huge pool of buyers.

With limited information available to you (the most current market conditions and comparable sales data), you may over-price or even under-price your home.

More buyers are working with real estate professionals, as it does not cost them anything. But if your house is not listed in MLS (Multiple Listing Services), your house will not be seen by those buyers.

If you are not skilled in negotiation or writing binding business contracts you may end up actually selling for less, having your transaction fail, or worse, ending up with a legal or financial liability because you made a mistake.

There is a lot of paperwork involved in the process of selling a house. Preparing the proper paperwork, legal forms, disclosures etc. are your responsibility if you are selling by yourself.

People who look at homes that are “for sale by owner” are doing so to find a bargain and expect to buy a home far below fair market value. They know that someone who is selling by owner is not paying a commission or marketing fee. These buyers will often deduct the commission from your asking price and then start negotiating with you.

As you move toward the negotiation process, you must break all emotional ties that you have with your house or you will find yourself at a distinct negotiating disadvantage

You must become very knowledgeable of buyer’s contingencies, seller disclosure laws, lead based paint issues, civil rights laws, financing options, title and deed requirements and local ordinances to be effective and successful in the home marketing and selling process

The vast majority of the qualified and “ready to buy” buyers are working exclusively with professional real estate agents.

You have only one property to sell; it?s very hard to attract potential buyers.

FSBOs can?t test as large a market as realtor can. You can?t expect to realize the best price obtainable (the bigger the market, the better the price)

You don?t have anybody to negotiate on your behalf. Nose-to-nose dealing with buyers can lead to tension and hostility, and possibly the loss of the a sale. In addition, it is difficult for most people to represent themselves in a business transaction.

It may be difficult for you to follow-up on buyers without seeming too anxious.

Real Estate professionals can manage appointments and pre-qualify buyers so only legitimate prospects see the property. Every time you leave your house, it is ?off? the market.

Real Estate Professional can pre-approve potential buyers within 24 hours

You may allow the best buyers slip through your fingers because of inexperience to evaluate offers ? price is not the only issue.

WARNING

Home Sellers Don?t Go it ALONE!
By Robert J. Bruss
Tribune Media Services

Question:

Why don?t you warn home sellers not to attempt selling alone without a professional real estate agent?

My husband said we could save the real estate sales commission by selling without any agent. He bought a book on selling without a broker and thought we could do it alone.

After spending almost $1,000 on a sign, advertising and legal fees, plus waiting four months, he finally agreed to advertise ?broker co-op? in out weekend open house newspaper ad. That changed everything. Real estate agents started to bring their prospective buyers to visit out Sunday open houses.

The second week, a sharp Realtor brought a buyer who loved out house. The Realtor prepared a purchase offer, handled all the required disclosures, and got our sale closed in less than a month. She charged us 50% of the typical sales commission. It was money well-spent.

Looking back, I think we probably would have received a higher sales price and saved lots of carrying costs and sales expenses if we had followed your advice to interview three agents and list with the best.

Answer:

Thank you for sharing your experience. I would love to tell home sellers they can save the sales commission and sell without a professional realty agent, but that?s not true, as you discovered.

Although, I am a licensed real estate broker and have earned many sales commissions selling properties for other owners, I always list with another realty agent when I want to sell my own properties (with exception of selling to a friend or an lease-option to a tenant).

The primary reason is, I know, as the seller, I cannot be objective about selling my own property. As you discovered, selling your home without professional help is very difficult. Not only most sellers incapable of handling today?s complicated disclosure paperwork, but prospective buyers don?t usually trust do-it-yourself sellers.

Selling Tips

Getting Ready to Sell Your House

Disengage Your Emotions when talking to real estate agents, you will often find that when they talk to you about buying real estate, they will refer to your purchase as a “home.” Yet if you are selling property, they will often refer to it as a “house.” There is a reason for this. Buying real estate is often an emotional decision, but when selling real estate you need to remove emotions.

You need to think of your house as a marketable product. Property. Real estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. You need to de-personalize it.

This page will explain the process of selling your house, give you some tips and ideas to get your house sold faster for more.

Preparing the House for Showings

After leaving in a house for a long time, it gets cluttered, and people get used to it, and they are very emotional about all their belongings. To get your house uncluttered might be a very hard thing to do because of the emotional attachment to things. After years of living in the same home, clutter collects in such a way that may not be evident to the homeowner. However, it does affect the way buyers see the home, even if you do not realize it.

Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages, attics, and basements. You want as much open clear space as possible, so every extra little thing needs to be cleared away.

Take a step back and pretend you are a buyer. Let a friend help point out areas of clutter, as long as you can accept their views without getting defensive. Let your agent help you, too

Repairs, Costs of Repairs

Do not do anything expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savings to pay for any repairs and improvements ? do not go charging up credit cards or obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling a house is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.

Plumbing and Fixtures

When looking at a house, prospective home buyers often do not really know what to do. So they play with things. They flick light switches. They open everything with a handle. They turn on all the faucets and flush all the toilets. Having nice shiny fixtures makes an impression.
All your sink fixtures should look shiny and new. If this cannot be accomplished by cleaning, buy new ones. If you don?t buy something fancy, this can be accomplished inexpensively. Make sure all the hot and cold water knobs are easy to turn and that the faucets do not leak. If they do, replace the washers.

It sounds like hard work, but it’s pretty easy — even for the inexperienced. Check to make sure you have good water pressure and that there are no stains on any of the porcelain. If you have a difficult stain to remove, one trick is to hire a cleaning crew to go through and clean your home on a one-time basis. They seem to be wonderful at making stains go away

Odor

Make sure it smells pleasant in your house. How would you like to walk into a potentially your next home and find out that it smells horribly. It is an automatic turn-off for most buyers.

For those who smoke, you might want to minimize smoking indoors while trying to sell your home. Actually, it is best to move smoking outside. You could also purchase an ozone spray that helps to remove odors without creating odor.

Apologies to pet owners, but pets come with odors. You may have become used to them, but they are immediately noticeable to those with more finely tuned senses.

For those with cats, be sure to empty kitty litter boxes daily and use plenty of baking soda. For dog owners, keep the dog outdoors as much as possible, even those adorable lovable little dogs. You might also try sprinkling carpet freshener on the carpet on a periodic basis.

You could also buy candles and turn them on right before showings. They spread a very pleasant smell fast throughout the house.

Pricing Your House

Make sure you don?t overprice your house. The first several months are crucial, as your house is going to be fresh on the market, so it is going to attract a lot of new buyers. Agents are always looking for new inventory. So this is the time when you want to do everything right. If you overprice your house to begin with, then after several months, people are going to have different suspicions why your house is still sitting on the market. If your home is initially priced right, you are in the best position to attract the maximum number of buyers. Ask a real estate agent to do a ?Comparative Market Analysis? for you. Most agents would do it for you for free. You can request a free ?Comparative Market Analysis? from our site.

Why you should work with a Realtor?

Working with a professional Realtor to sell your house is a good idea for several reasons:

• They will help you to prepare your house for selling, point out the details you might miss, but which might be crucial in the sale.
• Real Estate professionals are trained negotiators. They know how to get you the highest price. It is statistically proven that a real estate agent can get 16% higher price.
• They will provide you the best marketing - different newspapers, magazines, MLS, print advertising, professional brochures and flyers, professional networking, agent tours, targeted direct mail, yard signs, TV exposure, interactive phone information, open houses, and the Internet.
• Real estate agents are not emotionally involved. It might be very hard for you to discuss something with the potential buyer, especially if a buyer says something offensive about certain feature in your house that you might love. You might not even want to deal with that buyers after that, but real estate agents are trained to be emotionally calm and deal with various situations. They will handle it for you.
• They’re familiar with the process of selling a home and can explain things to you.
• They can easily access information on all properties listed for sale by Realtors in your area. This way you will always be aware of your competition and compare the prices. You don?t want to be the highest or the lowest in your area.
• They’ll help you complete all the necessary paperwork, handling all negotiations, back and forth contracts where it is very easy to skip one initial. You have to initial every single change that you make on the contract, and if you skip just one signature or initial on contract or necessary disclosures, legally, you don?t even have a contract. That?s why real estate professionals will make sure everything is in place.

Marketing Your House

Marketing can be extremely expensive. Agents spend thousands of dollars to get houses advertised in different newspapers, magazines, MLS, print advertising, professional brochures and flyers, professional networking, agent tours, targeted direct mail, yard signs, TV exposure, interactive phone information, open houses, and the Internet. The combination of all of these marketing elements working together has helped thousands of sellers to successful sales.

AN OFFER!

When you have a home for sale, eventually a prospective buyer will make an offer. As the seller, you basically have three options: you can accept the offer, reject the offer or give a counter offer. A counter offer usually will encourage a buyer to continue their negotiations. You may also receive multiple offers. You may prefer to take slightly less for your property from someone who is willing to pay cash, versus someone who needs to sell their current home first. Contingencies, move-in dates, and financing are all things to consider when weighing an offer. If things seem a bit overwhelming, rely on your experienced real estate professional, who can go over the various points with you, and help you choose the best offer.

Getting to the Closing Table

Once you’ve accepted an offer on your property there’s a number of details that still need to be finished. There will probably be an inspection of your home by a professional who will determine the condition and integrity of your property for the buyer. The contract should state who is paying and up to what amount on the repairs. The buyer’s mortgage company will order an appraisal. The title company will warranty that there are no liens or existing encumbrances which would restrain a transfer of title to the buyer. First time sellers and buyers often feel more comfortable to have the paper work reviewed prior to signing. If you have a real estate agent, she/he will review everything with you. You can always rely on your real estate professional to make sure the entire home selling process goes smoothly.

 

Got a Question?

You can contact me directly from this website or by phone at: 407-383-8180