5 Mistakes FSBO Sellers Make

I talk to ‘fsbo’ sellers every week. “Fsbo’ is short for ‘for sale by owner’ in real estate circles. I’ve seen sellers successfully sell their own homes. More often than not, most sellers eventually turn to a Realtor for assistance. Here are just 5 Mistakes FSBO Sellers Make:

1)      Overpricing their home – Pricing a home is a critical component as to whether it sells. The traditional way sellers begin pricing is to aim for their dream price first, then work their way down with a series of price reductions. By this time, the home has often been sitting for a number of weeks and has lost the attention of buyers.

2)      Taking your own photos – Next to price, photos will make or break your listing. Buyers decide whether they want to view your home based on the photos. Hiring a professional photographer will be the best money you spend. Even if you have a good camera, the professionals will do a better job. The companies I’ve used can control lighting, and touch up photos in a way that the average person just can’t do. This is an investment of $100-$250 depending upon the size of your home and worth every penny.

3)      Limiting Showing Hours – Is your home available for showing Tuesday and Thursday from 9 AM – noon?  If so, you likely have a problem even if everything else is great! Let’s face it – buyers look at homes when they are NOT at work. For most people, this means evenings and weekends! You want your home to be available as much as possible. The more people who see it, the faster you will get an offer.

4)      Showing the Home Yourself – As a fsbo seller, do you conduct the home tour when buyers and agents come to visit or do you allow the agent to show the home?  If your listing is being shown by a Realtor, the best thing you can do is either be absent entirely, or get out of the way. Even if you’re home at the time, go sit out back, take a walk around the neighborhood, or curl up in one room with a good book. Nothing is worse than trying to look at a home with the owner peaking over your shoulder. Let the buyer’s agent do his or her job and get out of the way.

5)      Letting Your Emotions Get in the Way – This, like the other mistakes, can occur whether you have a Realtor or not. It’s human to be attached to your home. It has undoubtedly been the place of many memories, perhaps raising your kids, the first home you shared with your spouse, and so on. Homes encase chapters of our lives and it is difficult to see them objectively. When emotions get in the way of what is, in essence, a business transaction, deals can sometimes falter or fail.

If you are making any of these mistakes, make an appropriate change. I do think it is possible to sell a home yourself as anducated seller. That said, some homes are more difficult to sell than others, and an experienced Realtor can make a difference.  If you are selling by owner, and your home has not sold after 3-4 weeks, I encourage you to reach out and get some help. Give me a call at 619-379-8616.