Need tips for selling my own home

[SALvation]

Let's see...where to start?

My wife and I currently own a condo and have had it for the last 2 years. We pay a mortgage on it, not rent. Also, we have been looking at moving up and building our own home. We have been talking to a builder for a while now, and to make a long story short, we are signing the contract this Sat. to go ahead and start building. The process would be about 6 months so our home would be done in late August.

Now we going to sell our condo. I know its early but I am scared of getting stuck paying 2 mortgages if it doesn't sell. Also, we will need to use some of the money for one of our final draws on our new home (probably in June/July). I figured best case we sell now, we can go live with my parents for a few months (they have a nice house) and save a ton of money while our new place is being built.

We've decided to go with www.forsalebyowner.com to sell. A couple other units have used them in our complex and they recommended them. I can't see paying a 6% comission to a real estate agent. In fact, I think I have no choice as that commission would wipe out the money that we need to use for one of the draws.

So my question is have any of you guys used them? What tips do you have for selling? I plan on making my own flyers also and posting them at grocery stores and colleges. Anywhere else I could put them?

What happens when someone gives me an offer that I want to accept? Do I take that offer to a real estate lawyer or a title/closing company? Anyone have any experience with this? I think my head is going to explode from all the questions/stress

Thanks.

 

[bunker]

pm Queasy, he's using them right now.

 

[SALvation]

Thanks. Does anyone else have any tips?

 

[richardycc]

hmmm my tips:

Don't let any buyers know that you are building a new house and need the money from this sale.

Repaint any room with funky color with white or off white paint?

good luck,
rich

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: bunker
pm Queasy, he's using them right now.

Actually I'm using www.buyowner.com but it's the same concept.

My suggestion,

- Paint all rooms a neutral white or beige.
- Go ahead and start packing the non-essentials. Clean out any and all junk from closets or storage spaces. You want to make it look like there is as much room as possible.
- Set aside a couple of hours every Sunday for open houses.
- Go ahead and make a list of everything that you see as a negative for the condo and fix those. List everything that is a positive and stress and improve those.


Does the company your using not handle closings for you? Buyowner.com does. If they don't, go ahead and find a closing agent/lawyer that you are comfortable working with and won't charge outrageous closing fees.

If your job(s) allows it, you can also post flyers there.

Since you are on a set schedule of when you want the house sold, go ahead and get used to living like a neat-freak.

 

[bunker]

foresalebyowner...buyowner...close enough .

I knew you'd be able to help him out anyway .

 

[Amused]

A guy down the street form me tried to sell his own home. It sat on the market for 6 months.

He gave in and went to a realtor and it sold in 3 weeks.

Just a little side story, there.

 

[Doggiedog]

Don't know if they have it in Michigan but there is a company, YHD here in the NYC area that does it for 2% commission. They are everywhere here.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Amused
A guy down the street form me tried to sell his own home. It sat on the market for 6 months.

He gave in and went to a realtor and it sold in 3 weeks.

Just a little side story, there.

Yep, that's cause real estate agents won't even touch For Sale By Owner homes. They'll take their clients where they know they can get a fat commission...meaning homes listed with a realtor.

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Don't know if they have it in Michigan but there is a company, YHD here in the NYC area that does it for 2% commission. They are everywhere here.

YHD Foxtons currently serves New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and London

 

[dman]

We sold our last home buy owner, just used a for-sale sign and a lawyer. It helped that our neighborhood has a high turnaround, was a starter community, and it's open for public to drive through (no guardhouse). I had the sign up on a Friday and had an offer by Tuesday that we accepted for our asking price.

Have a list of the homes features by the phone so you can answer questions.

If you are smart you'll start with a 3% higher asking price to cover a buyers realtor. If they buyer comes w/o a realtor you can go down an additional 3% in negotiations. Of course, your price should be within reason, if it's above appriasal value then the buyer may not get approval on their financing and you'll lose a bunch of time. By having that 3% margin you will get a lot more traffic when realtors know they can still make 'some' commission by bringing you buyers.

If you don't know what to sell the home for, it's a good idea to have a few seller-realtors come out and see what they can do to sell your home. They'll give you an idea of what you can list it for, tell you what the features are of your home that buyers will want to know, etc. Then you can decide what price you want to put it on the market for.

You can also go to some realtors and pay a fee to use them as a MLS agent. (Basically just gets your house listed in MLS but they don't act as a sellers agent). (Similar to what you are planning on doing, but, you don't have to use the 'buy owner' type companies to do that).

Keep in mind that if the buyer uses FHA or VHA financing that you'll be responsible for some closing costs that a seller usually does not pay (when a buyer uses conventional financing). You should find out what financing they will use BEFORE going to contract / deciding on the final price. If they buyer uses FHA / VHA you don't come down as far on the price.

If you do go by owner, Get yourself a Lawyer on retainer so you can have them handle the contract signing and closing. know that the Buyer will need to draw up the contract and you will need to 'approve' it. The contracts are 'buyer' friendly so there's a lot of ways a buyer can back out and not a lot of ways for the seller to get out. You are also potentially liable for a lot of things, even after the sale, so it's a good idea to use a lawyer.

Good luck.

 

[Ornery]

We used ForSaleByOwner.com and the response was under whelming. Price is good considering their readership, but it didn't seem to help. We priced high at first, got TONS of interest from Open Houses and many agents offering their services. At least three agents wanted to show it to clients if we would be willing to pay part of the commission, to which we said, NO!

After six months, when we were actually ready to sell, we had an agent come by to go ahead and list it. Coincidentally two prospects stopped by while she was there! She made a pitch to them and told us to give it one more shot on our own. She said not to take less than a certain amount, and if it didn't work out, she figured she could net us that much if she offered it. Funny thing is, neither of those people bought it, but a couple who had seen the ForSaleByOwner ad did stop in. They loved it. We told them that we were this close to listing with a realtor, and if they wanted it for a good price, to ACT NOW! They did. We drew up the purchase agreement, which they amended a wee bit, and that was that.

What I learned from this, is to price it right from the beginning, so there ya go.

 

[SALvation]

Thanks guys. I found there are 2 other units just like mine for sale in my sub, both by realtors. One is going for 130k and the other is 135k. I'll try and walk through them this weekend to see what they did to the inside. I've tried to do whatever I could to my place by adding storm doors, finishing the garage and repainting the whole interior with a nice high-quality paint instead of some craptastic flat paint the builder put in. I'm thinking of listing ours for 133k. Also I have no problem paying a buyer's commission if it is only like 2-3%.

Time really isn't an issue. If a buyer asked if I could move out tomorrow I'd be gone. Like I said my biggest fear is not being able to sell and I end up screwed for my draws and possibly have 2 mortgages at the same time.

 

[propellerhead]

Advice: Buy a book on selling your house by yourself. When you go For Sale By Owner, knowledge is your best weapon.

In small town Abilene, TX, the realtor said they'd sell my house for $49,500. My research told me it should sell for $56,500. I went FSBO and sold it for $56,500 in three months.

 

[SALvation]

I'm pretty sure I would like to list my condo on the MLS too. Is there anyone you recommend? Are they all the same? There are a ton on the web which offer it for about $500.

 

[Vic]

In my endless experience in real estate , it has been my long opinion that the best option for selling a home is to bite the bullet and the pay the realtor. FSBO's (pronounced Fizz-BO) are generally under-marketed and over-priced, and the owners frequently lack the knowledge necessary to make a smooth sale (no offense). And yes, unless you add "Brokers Welcome" to your listing (meaning that the owner/seller is willing to pay a commission, usually 2-3%, to the buyers' realtor), no realtors are going to bring potential buyers to see your home. Do YOU work for free?
Queasy and dman6666 have offered some excellent advice for selling your home on your own, I suggest you take it.
As for listing on your local MLS, I strongly advise it. edit: isn't that usually one of FSBO's regular services? to list your home?

 

[sciencetoy]

Be prepared: the buyer knows perfectly well that you aren't paying the commission and will expect you to make your price lower so that he can take advantage of it. Unless your area is amazingly hot you won't sell for as much as the realtors can get.

 

[SALvation]

Does anyone have any experience with a flat fee MLS listing service?