<p>Tell me your thoughts on selling a home by owner. Is this a good idea, or a big fat headache? Assume that time is not critical, and that the sellers are pretty savvy folks. I wonder about all the paperwork/legalities. The thought of paying a realtor when there are now tools available to the masses ( ie, the internet) got me thinking. </p>
<p>The nice thing about a realtor is that they will have the best idea of what price to list the house for and will be able to show your house when you are not home. Obviously the bad thing is the 6% fee that most charge! As far as the legalities - you should still use a real estate lawyer for the contract and closing (and to hold the escrow in an account).</p>
<p>Almost every one I know who has tried that route has eventually gotten a realtor. I also walk and ride my bike around my town a lot and see FSBO and a few months later a realtor sign on lawn. Anecdotal obviously. </p>
<p>Emilybee…that’s what I thought, too. Kiddie…with being able to look up comps, I think pricing should be pretty simple. You are right , 6%…ouch! No easy answer I guess, but I’m hopeful some will have a REALLY great (or REALLY bad) story to share. I’m inclined to use a realtor, btw, but am fairly sure DH would give the FSBO a whirl.</p>
<p>When I moved to a new city 1500 miles away I didn’t have the knowledge or familiarity with the various neigborhoods to seek out FSBO so I only saw properties through a realtor. In the case of this city which has a comparatively low COL, people coming in from out of town, especially from either coast, are going to be the buyers most likely to think home prices are reasonable or even low compared to what they are used to. So if I ever put my house on the market I’ll use a realtor to capture the attention of those buyers.</p>
<p>Wellspring, that was exactly the point a realtor recently made when discussing her services. You are drawing from a far bigger pool of potential buyers, including those moving from out of town with perhaps some relocation money to spend. </p>
<p>Most realtors are very happy to come and suggest a market value for your property. </p>
<p>Going wtih FSBO, I’d say it all depends on your market and area. If a hot market and neighborhood, the house may well sell itself with a few open houses. It depends on your personal inclinations as well. Some like the personal touch of finding new owners for a loved property, and don’t mind the bargaining process. Others shy from the details, and are very happy to not be challenged over the amount of attic insulation and age of the water softener. </p>
<p>An acquaintance in my town started a flat fee FSBO company to guide folks through the process. PM me if you want a link to the site, which will give details of selling as well as buying. </p>
<p>Another way to think about this: how many people are willing to look to purchase a house that is FSBO??? I know I’d happily check out a FSBO house - but how do others feel. That’s half your battle - getting your house viewed by others. </p>
<p>We sold our first house FSBO. Not a bad experience. But I do think there is more traffic of house shows by realtor led sales. </p>
<p>Think about your neighborhood. Is a house for sale a hot commodity? If so, maybe you could save some profit by trying it on your own. </p>
<p>We sold our own home and bought ( in a different neighborhood/suburb) FSBO. I think it depends on the neighborhood. Where we were moving from, many homes sold by word of mouth so it was worth it to at least try and sell it ourselves- sold in less than a week/multiple offers/over asking price. We did our homework on comps, talked to a lot of peope who had been through the process and had a sibling lawyer look over things for us. No problems on either end. </p>
<p>Neighbor of mine (several years back) sold their house FSBO. They went on a website and posted a video of their house Great response and sold very quickly in a decent market. Really depends on the how willing you are to do the legwork. </p>
<p>My dad has sold numerous properties himself but he has had a lot of experience and keeps up with the market. He’s also never been in a hurry to sell which can make a huge difference in how you approach it.</p>
<p>Totally depends on the hotness of the market. In a hot market, a realtor doesn’t matter much. And research suggests that realtors do not get the highest prices; they have no incentive to scratch out the last dollars because a) what flows to them as commission is a small part and b) they want the income now. In numbers, if there’s a 5% commission, an extra 10k would be $500 more, likely split between 2 companies and then split by the realtor with the company so the realtor gets maybe 1.25% or $125 and that isn’t much of a reason to get you that extra $9k. </p>
<p>In a colder or normal market, the problem is traffic and realtors can ice out FSBO properties. </p>
<p>If your property is meticulously maintained, shows well and you think it will sell quickly then you can also attempt to negotiate the brokers fee downward. I think a good broker familiar with the area can estimate when a property will sell quickly requiring less work on their part. They are sometimes willing to take less than 6% in some markets. Worth a try.</p>
<p>We sold our home FSBO, but it took a year. It was back in the early 90s, when the market You know, I don’t recall seeing any FSBO signs in our area in quite awhile.</p>
<p>It might work in the kind of overheated market where a seller can get multiple offers the first day, but in an average market you will have too many people who don’t want to deal with the owner directly. Many buyers agents will also not deal with you (except if they think they can get your listing). We tried it a number of years ago and had no offers and very few visits in 6 mos. Ended up getting an agent and selling to a friend of the agent’s daughter. I would let your friends know that you are about to list your house, before hiring an agent or putting up your own sign, in case they know anyone looking. Once you’ve exhausted your own contacts and passed the word around, its better to hire an agent.</p>
<p>Or maybe just invest in a photographer to take some really good pictures and get the property up online with signage outside the home listing phone and website. Give it 2 or 3 months and then list if no luck.</p>
<p>There are a lot of legal technicalities that need to be attended to. You don’t want to be on the short end of a costly lawsuit post-sale because you messed up somewhere along the line on the paperwork end of things. Many years ago when we purchased our home, as buyers we were happy to use a realtor – I was employed as an associate with a real estate litigation firm at the time, so among other things I was acutely aware that working through realtors provided some legal protections that we would not have otherwise.</p>
<p>There are cases where houses change hands without ever going on the market — word of mouth is enough to bring forth a buyer who is also already an acquaintance. </p>
<p>I’ve sold two homes FSBO. I started out with full intentions of going realtor. Both times they wanted a listing price lower than what I wanted. Both times I ended up selling higher than my listing price. My experience is they price to get a faster sale.</p>
<p>We did it with our first house. But we sold it to someone we knew… it was a very above board exchange. We were honest about the house and its pros/cons – didn’t want the son of our friend (who we sold it to) to come back later and say we didn’t mention things we knew. It also wasn’t a super expensive house (under $200K). </p>
<p>I am selling my nicer house next year, and intend to use a realtor. It is a higher end house, and has a few flaws i would rather not disclose unless legally required to… 
Prefer to have a realtor’s help pricing, marketing, etc.</p>
<p>I bought my home FSBO and everything went smoothly.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice and insight. We are in the beginnings of the “let’s move” discussions. Our neighborhood is desirable, the market is pretty good, but I’m not at all sure about the best way to go on another issue…paint/fix/replace all the things that we would want done in a new purchase, or discount the price so the new owners can choose. Gussying up the place might make the house look more appealing…but then there’s the whole taste thing. </p>
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<p>Yeah, but they don’t have much incentive to ensure that you get the best price. </p>