Selling Your Home By Owner
Congratulations on Deciding to Sell Your Home!
In every market and every economy, there are always home-owners that opt to market their homes "for sale by owner." While most agents don't show homes by owner, I pay close attention to the market, including these homes.
I think owners should explore the option of selling their own home. The main reason owners try to sell on their own, is to save money on the commission. I understand that this can be an expense someone would like to avoid, but on the average, homes sold by owner actually sell for 10% less than a home sold by a Realtor. Small towns and resort areas tend to have the highest rates of FSBO sales, with only 7% of suburban area transactions being FSBOs.
As you can see, successful home sales by owner make up a very small piece of the entire sales market, so you should know the facts before taking this endeavor head-on.
Statistics From The National Association of Realtors
First, the facts and data: FSBOs accounted for 10% of home sales in 2011. The typical FSBO home sold for approximately $140,000 compared to $199,300 for agent-assisted home sales.FSBO Methods Used to Market Home:
- Listing on Internet: 27%
- For-sale-by-owner Web site: 11%
- Yard sign: 46%
- Friends/neighbors: 39%
- Newspaper ad: 12%
- Open house: 14%
Most Difficult Tasks for FSBO Sellers:
- Getting the right price: 23%
- Preparing/fixing up home for sale: 18%
- Selling within the planned length of time: 14%
- Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale: 13%
- Understanding and performing paperwork: 10%
Most Important Reason for Selling Home As FSBO:
- Did not want to pay commission fee: 37%
- Sold it to a relative / friend / neighbor: 27%
- Buyers contacted seller directly: 16%
- Agent was unable to sell home: 8%
- Did not want to deal with an agent: 8%
- Seller has a real estate license: 2%
- Could not find agent to handle transaction: 1%
- Other: 2%
Of that 10% of national home sales, approximately 40% of those sales are made to a family member or friend. So, unless you know someone close to you that already wants your home, you have your work cut out for you. In fact, even the Founder of ForSaleByOwner.com recently sold his home with a real estate agent.
I don't know exactly how accurate these statistics are, but from my experience locally, homes sold without an agent involved are very few and far between. If you do move forward with selling your home by owner, here are some tips, insights and advice to give you the best chance of success.
Advice on Selling By Owner
Price your home correctly for the market from the start. Research home sales within a 1-mile radius that are the most similar to yours. Look at and critique your home as if you were a buyer, not as the owner, and give an honest evaluation. It will save you a lot of time and money. Buyers looking at homes in the area, learn the values quickly. If you're over-priced, home-buyers will simply choose another home to purchase. I would be happy to help you by providing a Free Market Analysis. This information is highly valuable and directly affects your ability to sell your home.Home Staging. Staging Your Home properly will help your home sell faster and for more money. It is a worthy investment to consider to give your home a competitive advantage.
Advertise! The internet is your biggest source for potential buyers. Over 90% of home-buyers use the internet to find their home and 87% use a Realtor. With that said, you may want to consider getting your home into the MLS. In addition, use as many home sales sites as possible. My real estate team and I advertise on nearly 600 Websites! Choosing the right sites, will bring the right kind of inquiries. Set aside money to market your home and spend wisely. Newspaper ads produce low response rates for the expense. The key to a good ad, is to have a concise, accurate description with vibrant pictures and a "call to action" that gets buyers to contact you.
Make yourself available to have your home shown at anytime. Turning down a showing could lose a sale and extend the time you'll have to market your home. If you don't think you'll always be available, you may want to have someone help you. There are a lot of homes for sale, and buyers will typically just move on to other options.
Pre-qualify your potential buyers. Before you schedule an appointment to show your home, make sure they're approved to finance your home. This will save you time, in addition to ensuring you're working with an actual buyer, and not just letting some stranger into your home with no intent or ability to buy. Be safe!
Complete the required discosures. Have the Residential Property Disclosures filled out properly and ready for buyers to review.
Contact a local title agency and/or real estate attorney to draw up the proper paperwork and complete the transaction. It is imperative you have the proper paperwork to write up the final agreement and account for all aspects of the deal's contingencies. An error, breach and/or ommission can be very costly!
Before you decide to sell by owner, interview a couple real estate agents
2. You may be surprised to find the Realtor is flexible on the commission.
3. You may find a potential agent to list your home in the future, if your efforts by owner don't turn out as you hoped or you don't have the time to dedicate to selling your own home.
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