For sale by owner

[Sunbeam lodge]

Has anyone had any experience with FSBO?
It seems easy so there are probably a lot of pitfalls and advice someone that has gone through the process would be willing to share with interested forum members

[ITD]

I tried, for a little while, about a month 10 years ago, no luck. I had a friend who did it in Mass. a year or two later and sold his house quickly.

[Irish mist]

In a hot real estate market, and even better, in a major urban area, FSBO's can work. In this area....not so much. I sold several homes in the Boston area myself. Up here it's going to be difficult. If you have a waterfront property, or something unique it might help to go FSBO up here, otherwise I don't see it happening.

[camp guy]

There is a seductive allure to FSBO - saving commission money, actually doing it yourself, but in the evolving realestate world there are also many pitfalls and potholes to watch out for - and that is what the licensed real estate agents do for a living.

The legal and financial regulatory check points can be a mine field of problems. FSBO is fine if everything is fine, but one little glitch can turn into a nightmare in a hurry.

I guess by now you have figured out I am all for using an agent who will navigate the path for you and lead you to a pleasant conclusion.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

I did it many years ago and it went smoothly. When I had a solid buyer I brought him to the bank to qualify him, and he was able to get the mortgage, so we sold the house to him and even split the cost of the rental for a truck to move. The bank was helpful in making sure we dotted all the Ts and crossed all the Is.

But in this day and age I think buyers are happier dealing with an agent. With my last home selling it was not a requirement to get a mortgage on the new one, so I tried a FISBO for a month, with no takers. It was a nice, 2 yo ranch, but it had a steep driveway, so the potential buyers who looked at it were not interested. After 30 days I listed it with the agent that found us the new home, and sold it in 2 months. Closed on the day I would have had to start making 2 mortgage payments. Whew!

[JasonG]

I have successfully sold and purchased two FSBO's myself and with zero problems. Basically you need to make sure you can get our of your comfort zone by doing something that isnt the norm.

In my first one, I sold a $ 330k home in NH. The buyer had and agent, and we agreed on a $5k commission, which I thought was fair. I found the agent understood my lack of knowledge and would work with me. The second one I was the buyer, no agents on either side. The title company helped us take every step too.

It is not for everyone, but as a business owner and someone whom is not risk averse, I would do it in a heartbeat again.

You really need to market the house thought. Find a service that will get you on the MLS system, which is what all agents use. I originally used ISOLDMYHOUSE.com and they charged a few hundred to get on the MLS. As my home was rural at the time, I found this to make the difference. Craigslist is a must, too and check out HotPads.

Basically you need to do everything you agent does as far as marketing and showing your home. A tad awkward when you tell a potential buyer to look at your house while you are around. Perhaps have a friend show it or just let them in and go for a walk. Be a sales person, basically. The title company has attorneys that will make sure everything is ok.

So if you are not afraid of learning and will market it yourself and put the effort in, you will come out ahead. The title company and banks will make sure all happens well.

Good luck!

[4Fun]

We sold a Condo a couple years ago FSBO. We used Isoldmyhouse.com to get on the MLS. We offered a 2.5% buyers agent commision. At least it saved us a half the money. Our condo was empty so we just left the key in a lockbox and had the agents call us for the combo. We were not present for the showings. It worked out well for us. If you take the time to get involved you will probably do a better job than the rookie agents out there.

We wanted a fast sale and it worked out for us. You can get an attorney to write up the P&S so it covers you for any issues. We turned down a couple offers as the buyers were really not qualified and we did not feel like spending months under contract while they figure out how to pay. Watch out for FHA loans, low down payment, my uncle is helping me cosign, etc, that can add time to closing and may not happen in the end.

[Gatto Nero]

I've not tried FSBO but two years ago I sold my place in MA using only Zillow. I ended up getting about 10% more than the real estate agents wanted to list it for.

[HellRaZoR004]

We sold a Condo a couple years ago FSBO. We used Isoldmyhouse.com to get on the MLS. We offered a 2.5% buyers agent commision. At least it saved us a half the money. Our condo was empty so we just left the key in a lockbox and had the agents call us for the combo. We were not present for the showings. It worked out well for us. If you take the time to get involved you will probably do a better job than the rookie agents out there.

We wanted a fast sale and it worked out for us. You can get an attorney to write up the P&S so it covers you for any issues. We turned down a couple offers as the buyers were really not qualified and we did not feel like spending months under contract while they figure out how to pay. Watch out for FHA loans, low down payment, my uncle is helping me cosign, etc, that can add time to closing and may not happen in the end.

I disagree with the FHA thing. If the buyers are pre-approved the process won't take any longer than usual (assuming the property you are selling isn't complete crap, if it is then good luck selling it anyways).

We bought our home through a lady that was doing it herself. She used a service to get it on MLS and that's how we spotted it. We never used craiglist. We used zillow.com, mls.com and trulia.com.

When it came time to looking at the house we had a real estate friend act as our agent and he worked with the seller to make sure everything was good.

[Hermit Cover]

In my experience I've found that if I wanted to get a good selection of properties currently on the market I needed the professional services of an experienced agent......why would I want to spend my valuable time going to open houses and missing those not open...and perhaps missing the perfect home. Most buyers are with agents who know what's on the market...what's coming on the market...and how to get to these homes in the least time...eliminating those that don't fit my needs.

Another point. The buyer knows that the FSBO is trying to save a commission and will usually gauge an offer to reflect that savings....in other words the buyer is also trying to save the same commission the seller thinks he will save....nobody wins. I want professional agents working for the seller and working for me when it comes to finding financing and legal representation at title search and closing time. There are a lot of really great agents working up here.....I'd rather work with them and pay them....than try to count on an inexperienced seller while he's only on Chapter 2...of the "How To Sell Your Own House" book. Good Luck

[Patiently Watching]

Penny wise and pound foolish....
I can think of a great first hand experience with a seller who was going to save himself some commissions in the mid-2000s
Poor sucker sold his prized Sewall Road lakefront to a friend of mine for a minimum $350k BELOW what it would have fetched on the market and was very proud of his savings. (in reality maybe $500k low or about 40% of sale price- HAHA)
I guess we can call this win-win!????... Someone won.

[Winnisquamguy]

Has anyone sold anything this year, if so did you have to pay 3.8% for Obama-care?

[Justenuff]

I sold my house in MA two years ago at the start of the RE recovery, or at least as I could tell.
I got a couple of agents to have a look to list, got a few proposals, but none were what I expected. We also had some pretty poor comps in the neighborhood, but knew that we could get more than what they were telling us.
At the height of the boom, we were offered $625K for our house by a local who collected and rented that type of house. We didn't need to sell, so we kept the house.
When we got the RE agents opinion, one wanted to list at $300K, one at $340K.
We put a sign in our yard and proceeded to sift through the calls and inquiries. It was a real hassle at first, but soon I learned to sift through the calls and weed out the tire kickers.
We listed at $330K which I believe was average.
Some tips:
1. List at a reasonable price that can be supported by comps, RE data and website info. Don't believe that your palatial estate will be wanted by everyone (unless it's waterfront!)
2. Hire a lawyer up front to handle any forms/negotiations/special terms needed. We hired a good RE lawyer and spent a total of about $750 with him but he handled the escrow, the money exchange and the closing.
3. Keep you house clean and neat at all times.
4. Schedule appointments in clusters, so you don't have to wait for hours over many days.
5. Remember that you have two challenges in this transaction: the houses that are listed (whether by RE agent of FSBO) and the buyer. You have to deal with both.
Good Luck!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

We used I Sold My House.com for a piece of land and got lucky. We went this route because the realtor that we interviewed seemed overly nervous about a property on The Broads. If this person was conveying this to two people that are blissfully happy being out here, how could I trust that this person would represent us well?

I Sold My House offers, for a fee, MLS Listing. We agreed to give half commission to any realtor that brought a buyer. Bummer friends of ours called a local realtor that appeared like they were the listing agent for our lot. :eek2: We could have saved the whole commission.

If I Sold My House hadn't worked, the next realtor that I would have called is Roy Sanborn. His blogs here at Winnipesaukee.com are super informative, showing how knowledgable he is. He does handle island sales.

[Just Sold]

Has anyone sold anything this year, if so did you have to pay 3.8% for Obama-care?

You need to be checking the facts on these rumors. There is no 3.8% tax based specifically on home sales. There is an investment tax on high income earners - $200K+ for singles and 250K+ for married and the profits from the sale of real estate that put you over those income limits may be taxable. Use Snopes.com
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/04/07/is-there-home-sale-tax-to-pay-for-obamacare/