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For Sale By Owner Do's And Don'ts!

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with First Team Real Estate 0‌2089383

   

I've worked with For Sale By Owners for my entire career now. So, I wanted to blog about the dos and don't for FSBOs.

There will always be For Sale By Owners but lately I've noticed many more For Sale By Owner signs popping up these days. I drive by and they are still sitting and sitting and sitting. Now is not the time to let your home sit still with a sign on your lawn screaming "bargain", "somethings wrong with me", "my price is way too high", "my owners are desperate!"  If you are a For Sale By Owner who has had  your home up for sale for over 90 days and you think those statements are not what your sign is screaming, you are wrong or in denial!

Whenever I speak with a For Sale By Owner I always ask them specific questions such as "so, why do you want to sell on your own?" The answers I ALWAYS get are the same, "we, figured we have time so we thought we would just try and if we don't sell it by such and such a time, we will hire a Realtor."  My reply is ALWAYS the same which is that you don't have time. You can't get time back. The goal is not to see how long you can have your home up for sale or how many people come to see your home. Another answer I get is "we've had a lot of people come see our home."  BUT, did anyone buy your home out of all of those people? The answer is always NO!

The key is to put the home up for sale at a realistic price and sell the home in the quickest amount of time as possible. That's it, end of story!  FACT is that if your home isn't getting offers, or you are not getting feedbackfrom the buyers who are walking in and walking out like a revolving door, you are WASTING time!  Time people. Which brings me back to my original statement which is that you can't get time back. The longer your home is up for sale, just sitting, the more time you waste. Here is a question that I pose to FSBOs. "If you priced your home properly and your home is as great as you say it is, why haven't you sold it yet?" They have no answer for that question. Heres the answer, the home is not priced properly, bottom line. It doesn't matter what you have done to your home. There is a such thing as over improving your home.  If you have over improved your home you have to make peace with that and move on. Either reduce your price to what it should be or take the home off of the market.

Most For Sale By Owners have reasons for why they want to sell on their own and here are the top 10 reasons I always get starting with number 10:

                            10.   I have plenty of time so I figured I would try

                              9.   My neighbor just sold on their own so I figured if he/she could

                              do anyone could do it

                              8.   I used a Realtor the last time I sold a home and he/she didn't do anything for

                              me

                              7.   I know my home better than any Realtor does

                              6.   It's a seller's market

                               5.  My home will sell itself

                               4.  I don't have enough money to pay a Realtor

                               3.  All a Realtor will do is throw a sign on my lawn

                               2.  I don't like Realtors

And the number one reason I always get for why home owners want to sell on their own is:

                                1.  I don't want to pay a Realtor       

I'm not writing this blog to hurt For Sale By Owners or to make them angry. I'm writing it to help you! 

Hey look, I know that there are many home owners out there who do not like Realtors. I get it. I'm a Realtor and there are a lot of Realtors out there that I don't like.

 So, here are a list of things that you must do in order to be successful in selling on your own.  And, if you are going to attempt to sell on your own, you must set a time when you will hire a professional and it shouldn't be 2 or three months down the road. My professional opinion is that if you do not get an acceptable offer within 30 days, hire a professional.

First and foremost, realize that selling your home will be like another full-time job. You must take every single phone call, talk to A LOT of people and ALWAYS HAVE YOUR HOME READY FOR SHOWINGS.                                   

 Sit down and make two lists.  One list for all the pro reasons for wanting to sell on your own and then another list of all the con reasons why it wouldn't be wise to sell on your own.

Make another list (I hope you like lists) of all of the things that you will do to advertise your new listing as well as where you will advertise. Make sure to set a budget of how much you will spend on advertising.

Either get a new phone number that you will give in all of your advertisements for buyers to call so you will know that those callers are buyers and then set times for when you will check your messages throughout the day and another time for when you will return phone calls. And you can even put that on your message such as: Thanks for calling about (address) please leave me your name and dont' forget your phone number. I will be checking my messages at 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m. I will return all calls between 7-8 this evening.  Then do not forget to do what you promised.  If you do not, you will loose any potential buyer.  Or simply just give out your cell phone number or your home number. If you do that, try to not let children answer the phone. Remember, you are a professional and you wouldn't want a Realtor's child answering "YOUR" call if you called me about one of my listings. Right?

Contact 3 professionals. It is my professional opinion that the 3 professionals you contact be the ones that you are considering hiring if you do not sell on your own. Ask those 3 professionals for a home value report. How much would they list your home for "right now?" Also, it is my professional opinion that you be realistic and not choose the professional who just answers yes to all of your questions. Choose the professional and price that is the most realistic.

Once you have your professional and listing price, now you are ready to start your business venture.

Make another list of how many open houses you will have. Open houses are a necessity for For Sale By Owners because its the only way you have to attract potential buyers.  Don't forget to have a sign-in sheet.  You will need this sign-in sheet after the open house to call all of the buyers to see if they are interested in your home and to reschedule a second private showing for any interested buyers.  It is this time that you will also get mortgage information from these buyers who are interested to see if they are ready to purchase. Remember, no mortgage information, no sale so move on. NEXT!!!

Make a list of internet places where you will advertise your new listing. Will you use one of those For Sale By Owner sites? If so, there are costs. Most of them will charge a non refundable fee to post your listing on their site and there will be another non refundable fee for listing it on the MLS. (Multiple Listing) and remember when you list it on the MLS, you will be paying another fee to the buyer agent who brings you an acceptable offer which can be anywhere from 2% to 4%. And that buyer agent WILL NOT be representing you or doing your paperwork.  You are paying them for bringing you an acceptable offer and qualified buyer. You will have to be prepared to do your own paperwork or will need to pay someone to do your paperwork.

Keep a list of all of the fees you will be paying.

When all of your advertising is all set-up, you are ready to start showing your new listing. Remember, this is not your home now, its your listing. Throw all of your emotions out the window. You can't take things that buyers will say personally.  You can't get emotional when a buyer gives you a lower offer than what you expected. Remember, no offer means no sale. You can't work with what you don't have!  An offer is a starting place!

Make sure that the outside of your home is attractive. No toys lying around, no tools, no high grass, no animal waste, trash or dead flowers or bushes. Remember first impressions are key. You only get one chance to make a great first impression!!!

Make sure your home SMELLS great! Bring someone in and ask them how your home smells. You may think that your home smells good but to someone else it may smell bad. Do you smoke?  Start smoking outside. The last thing you want is a non smoker to come in your home and smell smoke. Being a non smoker myself, I find it a turn off to walk into a home and smell cigarettes. Hey, I'm just being honest! Put something in your home that will make your home smell attractive!  Mind over matter!

Do yourself a huge favor and try not to become a chatty Kathy. Sure, you can tell potential buyers about your home and you MUST disclose all potential issues with your home such as leaks, cracks, and structual issues to all interested buyers. Buyers do not want to hear everything about what you have done to your home. They are only interested in facts.

Let the buyers walk around your home by themselves. Try not to follow them. They want to picture themselves living in their new home.

Take all photos off of your walls or around your home. Buyers do not want to see your memories. They want to picture what their memories will look like.

The most important task you will have will be negotiations. You can't become all unhinged when you are negotiating. You must remain calm. You can't become emotional. This is business. If you do not like confrontation or if you are shy or have issues with saying NO, perhaps negotiating is not your strong suit and if that is the case, you may not be a very good candidate for being a For Sale By Owner. Getting your sale price is your one and only goal.

Remember not to get frustrated. This will not be easy as you can see. If it was, everyone would be doing it. And remember this is all for just one home. Realtors have to do this for every home that they list.

If you do these things that I suggest, you can be a successful For Sale By Owner.  I know it! 

There are many more things you will have to do but these are key things that you should be focused on. Just do not be afraid or too stuborn to ask for help when the time comes! The last thing you want is to sell your home for under market value and that can happen if you keep your home on the market too long!

In an ever changing real estate market you have to prepared and have a plan. The market is saturated with inventory. Don't become another statistic.

Most of all remember to have fun and please take all security precautions. Remember, you are letting complete strangers into your home that you know nothing about.

Feel free to comment about this blog and if you would like more information on how to be a successful For Sale By Owner, feel free to contact me.  Good Luck!!

Comments (1)

Dave Halpern
Dave Halpern Real Estate Agent, Inc., Louisville, KY (502) 664-7827 - Louisville, KY
Louisville Short Sale Expert

When FSBO's realize that this house selling gig is not that easy, they end up hiring a Realtor. Sellers who hire Realtors to list their home statistically net more and sell faster, with less risk of legal problems.

Sep 13, 2017 09:17 PM