Final Letter to For Sale by Owners

4th and Final For Sale By Owner Information

The Pro’s and Con’s of being a For Sale By Owner

It seems simple enough-Put your home up on a website (take your pick there are many to choose from), a buyer will come, you will say yes to their contract, and the next thing you know you are signing closing documents!  Well…NOT Quite!

1)   Making it known that your home is for sale:

a.     There are some ways to let other realtor’s know that your home is for sale that are more effective and require a licensed realtor to be involved.

b.    There are international marketing venue’s that are also not readily available to the general public.

c.     But let’s assume that you use the normal For Sale By Owner websites and people do see your home for sale…then what?

2)  Qualifying Buyers:

a.     When you are a For Sale By Owner, do you know how you are going to decide whether someone is not only financially qualified to look at your home but are trustworthy to be in your home!

b.    A licensed Realtor® should always be in your home when potential buyers and are interested in looking at your home. Additionally, both agents are interested in making a deal work and not just looking at homes they are not interested in buying or they do not see the buyer’s agent has a bona fide buyer for.  (Lockbox on an occupied home is NOT ideal—if this is important to you make sure you ask if your realtor will be in attendance during showings, if you decide to interview realtor’s)

c.     How do you know what the buyer is thinking without seeming needy? Do you have a solid follow up plan? Do you know how to handle objections without getting personally attached to the outcome?

3)  Making the deal:

a.     On the surface it seems that the price is all that you need to worry about, but that is not true!  I just heard of story of a For Sale By Owner that did not know until the day of closing that he agreed to 3% concessions and thus inadvertently paid what many would charge for commissions and still had all the headache of selling the home. On the day of closing when he said he didn’t know that he agreed to the concessions there was nothing he could do—He signed it! (it could have been a lot more—he would have never known until the day of closing)

b.    Also, many Realtor’s will ask for more in commissions when working with a For Sale By Owner since they believe when it comes to the timing of various items in the contract it is going to be up to them to make sure that time lines are adhered to.

4)  Getting to Closing:

a.     If all the drama was over with in the last 3 steps perhaps that could be bearable. But, alas just as in engagements approximately 50% of all real estate contracts do not make it to closing! Some call it quits the same day or that week and then others a couple of weeks in, and then there are those that fall apart right at the time that closing seemed all but certain. Do you know your rights or lack thereof? Do you know how to smooth the deal over at the last minute so that you still close? Many a deal has been close to calling it quits at the 11th hour only to have the realtor’s working behind the scenes to make everyone happy and keep the deal together…all while their clients are asleep thinking everything is fine.

b.    Do you know all the steps that are required of the seller to make the process go as smoothly as possible and to keep track of the buyers progress? There are things you can do and things you cannot do to track your buyer’s progress—not even all Realtor’s know—be sure to ask!

Let me know when is a good time to preview your home so I can provide the details to those who ask.

Sherri Sue Parkin