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4 Questions to Identify Qualified Buyers for Your Charlotte Home for Sale by Owner

By
Real Estate Agent with Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 228209

 

4 Questions to Identify Qualified Buyers for Your Charlotte Home for Sale by Owner

For Sale By Owner in Charlotte NC

Selling a Charlotte home for sale by owner takes a lot of time, energy and expertise.  You’ll need to know how to set a fair market value for your home, promote your home to the max to be able to pull in as many qualified buyers as you possibly can and then negotiate the final terms and sales price.  

One of the most important skills you need to learn in order to find qualified buyers for your Charlotte home for sale by owner is how to sort out the “Lookie Loos” from the serious buyers.  

Lookie Loos are people who aren’t serious at all about buying a home.  At the very least, they waste your time and energy.  At worst, Lookie Loos could be a security problem.  They could be simply checking out your home to determine if you have valuables worth stealing.

Serious buyers are people who are interested in buying a home within the next 30 to 90 days and are already pre-approved for a mortgage.  Make sure you spend your time and energy only on these individuals.

So, how do you identify qualified buyers?  Before scheduling a time to show your Charlotte home for sale by owner to potential buyers, ask them these four questions:  

  1. What to ask potential buyersAre you pre-approved for a mortgage?  If they’re pre-approved for a mortgage, they’re serious about buying a home.  If buyers aren’t pre-approved, suggest they contact a mortgage specialist and get back in touch with you when they have their pre-approval letter.  Mortgage specialists check the buyer’s credit score, income and debt ratios.  They also verify that the buyer has enough money for down payment and closing costs.
  2. How much are you pre-approved for?  Make sure they’ve been approved for a loan that allows them the ability to afford your home.  If your home is valued at $500,000 and they’re only pre-approved for $150,000, then they cannot afford your home unless they can pay the difference in cash.  If the buyer is purchasing your home with cash, or using cash for a large down payment, you’ll want to ask the buyer for a bank statement to verify his or her funds.
  3. Do you have your pre-approval letter?  Verify that they are pre-approved for the amount they say they are.  Ask the buyers to email or fax their pre-approval letter to you or bring it with them when they tour your home.  
  4. When do you need to take possession of the home?  Your move-out timeframe needs to be close to the buyer’s move-in deadline.  How close?  Close enough to negotiate the difference.  If they don’t want to take possession of your home for six months, and you need to sell immediately, they’re not a serious buyer for your home.

To successfully sell your home, you need to know if a potential buyer is qualified to buy your home.  The sooner you know this, the less time you’ll waste chasing after lookers and unqualified buyers.

Tired of going it alone?  If you’d rather have an experienced Charlotte real estate agent handle everything for you from finding qualified buyers to negotiating the sales contract, give me a call or email me today.

 

Comments (38)

Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Debe --- it's great you present these questions for people trying to sell their own home.   Put up a sign, put it on Craigslist or some other website and let the bidding begin but there are so many factors that a person who doesn't do this everyday may never think to ask.  Congrats on the feature!

Mar 12, 2011 04:37 PM
Joyce Godwin, Realtor, CRS
RE/MAX Elite Properties; Serving Cypress, Spring, Tomball, NW Houston - Houston, TX
RE/MAX Elite Properties

Debe, Good advice to For Sale by Owners.  That should help them to at least get started.

Mar 12, 2011 04:46 PM
Charita Cadenhead
eXp Realty - Birmingham, AL
Serving Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Alabama)
Debe I will bet that FSBOs never or rarely ask for the all important pre approval letters which is the single most important information that buyers need.
Mar 12, 2011 05:29 PM
Ginny Gorman
RI Real Estate Services ~ 401-529-7849~ RI Waterfront Real Estate - North Kingstown, RI
Homes for Sale in Southern RI and beyond
Debe, interesting enough some buyers agents don't have pre-approval letters for their clients and tell me to wait while they get them to make an offer....nada...as you show being ahead of the curve is paramount especially here in the lower end market where the houses fly off inventory quickly! great post!
Mar 12, 2011 11:38 PM
Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA
Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD
301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

FSBO's should learn from this post. .and also being assured that is just a start. . .

Good information Debe.

Mar 13, 2011 12:28 AM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Great information Debe.  Funny thing, yesterday I ran into a FSBO - short sale.  I spoke to him and he's trying to negotiate with his lender himself.  They've advised im to list with an agent, he refuses.  They refuse to talk to him.  Going to go into foreclosure, rather than use an agent.

Mar 13, 2011 01:19 AM
Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Debe, very good information for the FSBO seller to get a potential buyer into the home. This is just one of several things a seller has to confront when selling their home. The complexity of selling a home should be left to a REALTOR® professional.

Mar 13, 2011 01:42 AM
Cindy Edwards
RE/MAX Checkmate - Johnson City, TN
CRS, GRI, PMN - Northeast Tennessee 423-677-6677

Hi Debe,

You have such great informative blogs.  I do appreciate your site and information.

Mar 13, 2011 01:45 AM
Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES
Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL
Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

Debe, very well explained.  It's intimidating to many people to ask about another's financials but entirely necessary!

Mar 13, 2011 01:59 AM
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Thanks everyone, for your comments.  I believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg but, since only 2% of FSBOs actually sell (and many of those to family members and friends), it's something for the owners to consider seriously when going it alone.  The Lookie Loos are a dime a dozen and why waste your time with them?  We're the pros who can screen them for you AND get your home SOLD!  

The time used trying to FSBO including the carry costs 99% of the time MORE than pays for a professional to help get the job done.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Mar 13, 2011 03:58 AM
Les & Sarah Oswald
Realty One Group - Eastvale, CA
Broker, Realtor and Investor

Debe -  great advice. Thanks for pointing out how essential and important it is for FSBO to ask about the finances.

Mar 13, 2011 05:17 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Debe

Unrepresented sellers often don't consider the issues they should be considering when going it alone. Financing ability is just one. And here in CA, as I expect elsewhere, there are lots of disclosures that are required. Not being represented does not relieve the seller from these disclosures.

Jeff

Mar 13, 2011 06:26 AM
Melissa Zavala
Broadpoint Properties - Escondido, CA
Broker, Escondido Real Estate, San Diego County

Just had an old colleague from a previous life contact me about buying a home. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she didn't qualify. It was a rough conversation.

Mar 13, 2011 06:38 AM
Chris Olsen
Olsen Ziegler Realty - Cleveland, OH
Broker Owner Cleveland Ohio Real Estate

Hi Debe -- Pricing...exposure...the ins and outs, it's a whole lot more complicated then one might think.  I've had many a client at the end say:

I had NO idea how complex this could be, and you earn every penny.

And this comes from very successful and highly-educated clients, so if they are very successful in their own high-level careers, it's good to hear when the appreciate the value an exceptional agent brings to the table.

Mar 13, 2011 07:53 AM
Lori Churchill Cofer
Beasley Realty - Pullman, WA
Realtor - 509-330-0086 - Pullman, WA

Before I became a Real Estate Agent, I tried to FSBO a home.  People looked uncomfortable.  I felt uncomfortable...so I hired a great real estate agent and she got it SOLD!

Mar 13, 2011 12:00 PM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Debe:

Clever of you to list the things that FSBOs need to know about their prospective buyer.  This may be enough to make them realize that they are not qualified to sell their own home.  They need a professional who know what they are doing, like you.

Mar 13, 2011 01:11 PM
George Bennett
Inactive - Port Orford, OR
Inactive Principal Broker, GRI

Good questions. And a good comment stream. Thanks for posting.

Mar 13, 2011 05:54 PM
Melody Russell
eXp Realty of California Inc. - Scotts Valley, CA
Expertise in maximizing the value of your home!

Good job! It is always a good idea to help FSBO's until they realize that they need your help. It has worked for me and it is fun to help them in their quest to get the home sold and it is more fun when they decide they would rather have me do all the work. ;)

Mar 13, 2011 07:33 PM
Greg Miller
Ruoff Home Mortgage - Sarasota, FL
Florida Home Loans - Conventional,FHA,USDA,VA

Excellent points here Debe - As a former Real Estate agent and now a Loan originator, I would say that I have yet to see a FSBO purchase contract with all the bases covered. 8out of 10 have only settled on price. The other 2 may have a settlement time negotiated in. Not a word about inspections, settlement costs, pro-rated taxes, Owners & Lenders title policy. They will buy a generic form at office supply and fill in the blanks "That they know". Usually most are left blank. When I will inquire to my buyer client about "who will pay what? they usually shrug their shoulders and say "It wasn't discussed. Now they have to negotiate these things after a price is settled on and no one wants to give. I've had a couple of these fall apart over non-discussed fees.

Mar 14, 2011 07:29 AM
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County

Don't see as many FSBOs these days so this is good for those who dare to go it all alone!

Mar 26, 2011 01:49 AM