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FSBO Help Part 6: "Why the Guy Next Door Has No Idea What He's Talking About"

FSBO Help Part 6:
"Why the Guy Next Door Has No Idea What He's Talking About"

So you are thinking about selling your home, and ahve decided to do it yourself. You've started repainting and making the necessary minor repairs. Your friends and neighbors have started to hear that you are moving, and the big question starts getting thrown at you: "What are you asking?"

Choosing an asking price can be difficlut, and everyone has an opinion. Be careful about taking advice from your neighbors. First, unless they are in the real estate industry they are probably grossly misinformed about the true market value of your home. Second, they may have a hidden agenda when doling out price advice since the details of the sale of your home will affect the value of their own property.

Instead of taking advice from the guy next door, follow these rules to figure out your home's market value:

1. Find the True Market Value: Get the statistics on similar homes in your neighborhood that have sold in the past 3 months. Find the sale price per square foot of each home sold (this is public record in many areas, including Palm Beach County, FL), then compare to the square footage of your own home.

2. Set your asking price at or below the True Market Value: Don't forget this is based on recent sales, NOT on current asking prices in the area. Remember, chances are the guys next door (and down the street, and two blocks over) have no idea what they are talking about, so if their homes are for sale, the asking prices might be nowhere near market value.

Now that you've decided on a price, don't second guess yourself. You did the research, so you can be confident with your price no matter what the neighbors think!

FSBO Help Part 1: "Thinking INSIDE the Box: Packing to Stay Ahead of the Pack"
FSBO Help Part 2: "Why Staging is Taking Center Stage"
FSBO Help Part 3: "Top 10 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster Than the Neighbors (tips 1-5)"
FSBO Help Part 4: "Top 10 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster Than the Neighbors (tips 6-10)"
FSBO Help Part 5: "5 Reasons Buyers Hate Your House"
FSBO Help Part 7: "Drop the Price Before You Pay the Price"

Meghan Mullee
Jupiter, FL Real Estate

take 5 team

Posted by Take 5 Team on 04/14/2008 02:12 PM

Comments (9)

fsbo, price, take 5, take 5 team, jupiter, jupiter fl real estate, real estate, meghan mullee

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9 Comments on FSBO Help Part 6: "Why the Guy Next Door Has No Idea What He's Talking About"

APR

2008

Now, that's Reality!

JimG

I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw fsbo as an option. Good series of posts!

To me, FSBO means "I need a GREAT Realtor"! Just my mindset as a positive and professional Realtor.

The sale price in the last three months is not public record in every area. Some States or areas feel it is a privacy issue.

Jim, Gabriele, and Patrick: Thanks for the comments! Glad you guys enjoyed the post.

Team DiMuria: The sales prices of homes are public record in the area that I work (Palm Beach County, FL) as well as the surrounding markets. It's also public record where I'm originally from (Northern Virginia). I guess I shouldn't have assumed that this was standard practice. I'll make the edit. Thanks!

Meghan Mullee
Jupiter, FL Real Estate