FOR SALE BY OWNER IN SOUTH FLORIDA
Selling a house by yourself can save a lot of money, if you do it right.
You need to sell your house. You look at your house and think “why can’t I sell it myself?” For many years people thought that selling their house is something that can be done only by using a realtor. But now, with the development of the internet, this presumption is ever changing. Some websites are dedicated entirely for For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) transactions. And the internet is widely used by all groups of ages, races, and genders. So is it really the best way? To answer this question we have to look at the pros and cons of going with an FSBO transaction.
Pros for sellers:
No Realtor Commissions.
When you use a realtor as a seller you are going to pay commissions. It is widely accepted that sellers pay the commissions. No realtor is going to work for free and try to locate buyers or list the house on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) if he isn’t getting paid. The commission varies between 5-7% from the sale price. So when you sell your house without using a realtor you wouldn’t pay it.
Honesty And Loyalty.
Realtors are getting paid on a commission. And because of that, you can’t always know that they have your best interest at heart. When you sell your own house you don’t have to trust anybody. A real estate agent might encourage you to sell the house for much less. For example: instead of waiting for a month or 2 to get the best price an agent might encourage you to sell for 200,000$ instead of 210,000$; His commission only suffers a 300$ decrease while you lose 10,000 in the sale price.
You know your house.
As the homeowner, you know your house better than any agent. Since you have lived in the neighborhood you can point out all the home’s perks, school district, neighbors, nearby shopping centers and all the advantages your property has to offer.
You and the buyer can talk directly.
You can talk directly with the potential buyer without feeling any pressure from the agent. Also, you can build a report with the future owner of your house and discuss the goals and needs directly with the buyer.
Cons for sellers:
You can find yourself in trouble
Without legal advice you can find yourself in trouble, sometimes ending up with a lawsuit on your hands. You need to remember you and the buyer are not experts and selling a house is not easy. It requires you to be on top of things and not doing mistakes sometimes that mistake can cost you a heavy price.
The “invisible commission”
The main reason to sell a house without the services of a real estate agent is to save money. When you sell your house without a realtor buyers know that you save 5-7% and usually ask for it to be discounted. Ultimately, you might end up paying the commission in the form of a discount, and not really get your self ahead.
Time.
Both strategies can take an awful lot of time. When you sell with or without an agent you probably end up selling to a pre-qualified buyer. This means that the buyer would require a loan from the bank not every one of us has 200,000$ in cash. The process of acquiring a loan is very long and can sometimes be denied by the bank. This means you can put all the effort and get a buyer who can’t actually buy your house and wasted your time.
It can be a lot of work.
Dealing with buyers is not easy, you have to be available for showings, keep your house clean at all times and be prepared to handle a lot of paperwork. The time spent on showings, repairs, and cleanups should also be taken into consideration. Your time is worth money and you should allow yourself to focus on other things. If you think you can handle all that during the weekends you need to remember that selling a house can take months or even years so you need to have the will to sacrifice a lot of your time towards selling your house.
Conclusion:
Selling a house by yourself can save a lot of money if you do it right. Before trying to sell your house by yourself it is important to do your research and understand this is not an easy process. If you believe you have enough time and resources and you also see yourself as an organized and thorough person, then the challenge is worth taking. On the other hand, if you don’t like to deal with the paperwork and you don’t have enough time to deal with showings and people we suggest you let an experienced agent sell your house.
BiggerEquity FSBO Quick Guide
If you decided you want to go ahead and sell your house by yourself, you will find below a quick guide to help you through the process.
How to: For-Sale-by-owner (FSBO)
First of all, you need to think like a salesperson! The best thing to do when you want to sell your house is to detach your feelings from the property. Yes, it is not easy and we know you have a lot of memories and reasons to think your house is the best in the neighborhood, yet you have to look at your house as a property and not as a home.
Step 1: research and pricing!
Do some research. You have to find out how much people have been willing to pay for homes in your area in the previous year. Take into consideration that the most recent sales matter more than than the oldest ones. We recommend to look 3 months back and if there is not enough data you can look back 6 months. Remember that every property is different and you’d have to analyze and ask yourself if your house is superior or inferior to the house you are comparing with. You have to look at properties with the approximate similarity of square footage and the exact number of bathrooms and bedrooms.
We recommend that you get help from a title company and/or real estate attorney with the handling of closing. You can get involved by inspecting the paperwork. The title company or real estate attorney can help you tremendously with selling your house since they know all about the right paperwork and disclosures needed for the transaction.
Price your home at the right price and remember buyers don’t like to negotiate just as much as you don’t. So if a similar house in your neighborhood sold for $250,000 you can price yours for a little less. For example: ask for $240,000 for your house and by doing so you can attract buyers faster since they are also looking at the same comparable properties. This way you can close the deal faster and with more money in your hands then your neighbor who had to pay a 6% commission to the buyer and seller’s agents.
Step 2: Marketing!
Start by “word to mouth”. You have to get out of the comfort zone and contact everybody you know, family, friends, co-workers, etc. Chances are if you contact enough people somebody will know someone who’s looking to buy a house in your area!
There are tons of ways to advertise your property. You can start by posting an ad on Craigslist but beware of agents reading these ad’s they can often harass you to list your house with them. If you go that way it is very important to register your phone number with the “Do not call registry”. Another great way is FSBO websites, post your ad with high-quality pictures and provide accurate information about your property and the area it is located at.
The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is a great way to advertise your property. The problem is that you are not able to get access to the MLS unless you are being represented by a real estate agent. With that being said For Sale By Owner websites can help you to have your property listed on the MLS in exchange for 3% of the sale price; it’s still better than paying 6% when taking the traditional route.
Step 3: sell your house!
Dress to impress; organize all the paperwork in a nice folder and be on time for all of your appointments. Buyers don’t expect you to be a knowledgeable realtor. But they do want to feel that they are dealing with someone who knows what he\she is doing.
Contact mortgage brokers they have what you need! And that is pre-qualified buyers! They want to help you because as soon as you sell your house they will get paid; tell them about your property and ask them to refer their pre-qualified buyers at your direction; nowadays it’s not easy to get a mortgage, and pre-qualified buyers are considered serious.
Negotiations, at this point you need to remember that you are selling a house and not your home; ignore your emotions. Don’t be upset and reject law ball offers, think rationally and make a counter offer- you have nothing to lose.
Outcome:
If you don’t have time for all that, and you need to sell your house fast, the best solution we can offer is to contact a local home cash buyer.
We at BiggerEquity specialize in buying homes for cash.
If you want to sell your house for cash in as little as 7 days contact us today.