For Sale by Owner

If you have experience selling properties and are confident in your ability to sell for top dollar and get the deal closed than do it!  But for most homeowners, they haven’t sold properties before, and there are a lot of concerns. First, you’re dealing with, for most, is the most expensive asset they have, and you don’t want to mess it up.  Just a few of the concerns for most sellers are how to attract potential buyers, setting the right price, understanding and performing paperwork, helping the buyer obtain financing, preparing the property for sale, selling within the length of time, and having enough time to devote towards all aspects of the sale. Professional agents do this everyday for a living and have honed their skills over years.  It’s kind of like representing yourself in court without a lawyer: you can do it, but you may have get the best result!

Usually, the number one reason why homeowners want to take on selling themselves is because they don’t want to pay real estate commissions.  While that is a valid concern, rather than focus on the closing costs the better approach is to focus on what you’ll be netting after selling.  After paying off everything (mortgages, liens, taxes, closing costs) what ends up in your pocket is the only thing that should matter financially.  While older research has shown that REALTOR® sold homes sell significantly higher than FSBO sold homes, the newest and most comprehensive study has shown a more modest 6% gain.  This means with all of the work and stress it takes to do the job yourself, you’ll still end up netting 6% less than REALTOR® sold homes.

This happens for a few reasons. First, most serious qualified buyers are working with agents.  And FSBO sellers who don’t compensate a buyers agents will find a vastly smaller buyer pool, often reduced to investors who offer low ball offers.  Secondly, agents, and other real estate professionals, are cautious to work with a homeowner who has never gone through the experience before.  Lastly, there are a lot of legal concerns and protections that buyers have that they must overlook when working with a FSBO. No one wants a lawsuit, but buyers open themselves up to potential legal troubles if the bases haven’t been covered in a transaction.

That’s understandable. See the aforementioned question “Why should I hire a REALTOR®?”

If you have experience selling properties and are confident in your ability to sell for top dollar and get the deal closed than do it!  But if you haven’t just know that there are many concerns for most sellers.  They include: how to attract potential buyers, setting the right price, understanding and performing paperwork, helping the buyer obtain financing, preparing the property for sale, selling within the length of time, and having enough time to devote towards all aspects of the sale.

Explore the FAQ sections of the other sections of this website for many more questions and answers. The “Traditional” page contains many commonly asked general questions about selling.