Thread: Process for 'For Sale by Owner"

Without knowing exactly where you are, it is hard to give very specific advice but there may be disclosure laws, and without a doubt you will need to be aware of Fair Housing laws in the US.

If you are unsure where to start, I would suggest at least talking with several local licensed real estate agents to get their input. Or hire a local real estate attorney to advise you. Either way, you need someone with experience in your local area that knows the market, laws etc to advise you. Also you need to consider how you plan to market the home to get maximum exposure to potential buyers.

Best of luck and hope you sell quickly!

Yeah, here's a few things you'll need to do since you've been bitten by the illusion of false savings:

1) Obtain or have on hand a years worth of marketing dollars. I didn't say "advertising" money. And simply putting your home on Zillow won't ensure anything.
2) Obtain or have on hand a WORKING cell phone and answer it if you make it to the point you've marketed your house to the public and determined who your demographic is.
3) Forgetabout "appointment only" and that stupid "call block" on your phone. Your house will remain on the market forever, especially since it'll be over-priced and you're making it impossible for people to see inside. How do I know it'll be over-priced? How can I be so sure? People on this forum with far more experience than I have seen FSBO deals remain on the market forever due to price and every owner wants sixteen times what they paid; it's natural, that's how.
4) Realize that having a Comparative Market Analysis completed correctly will help you reasonably price your home so that you're not sitting on it and floating it for another year.
5) Realize please, just because your neighbor's house sold in November of 2007 for $500 Million dollars, that has very little to do with the value of your home.
6) If you make it six months and haven't run out of marketing dollars and you didn't get any calls or just nosy neighbors: your house is overpriced.
7) In today's economy, don't expect to get any return, unless you bought the home in 1930 or own it outright.
8) Don't plan on going anywhere on the weekends or enjoying that one glass of Johnny Red: prospects will move on when they smell alcohol.
9) Plan on showing your house from 5pm-dusk, especially on Saturdays. Put what's left of your private life on a shelf until and if you close.
10) Ensure you're allowed to have "for sale" signs in your community.
11) Ensure that if you live in an gated community that you have an "open gate pass" when you have an Open House or nobody will be allowed into your community at all.
12) Expect to have at least three open houses and then lower your price. Market your home at least two weeks before each open house.
13) Before your open house, paint the walls and ceilings a neutral color and rid the house of ANY odors. This means: no cooking fish or onions while your house is on the market. Clean the gutters, power wash the roof and deck. You're trying for curb appeal.
14) Ensure there is no dampness whatsoever in your basement. Nobody, but nobody will even entertain making an offer if there's any sign at all of dampness. Get rid of the dehumidifier too! That's a sign, follow?
15) Remove all clutter. In my opinion, anything that's not nailed down, remove from the house immediately. Get those ridiculous pictures off the walls too. People want to see possibilities: not your family or to trip over an end table that's clearly out of place.
16) Ensure all faucets don't leak, floors are spotless, doors close and open properly, banisters are tight to the walls, and prospects don't have to tip-toe across and hundred feet of wet slate covered in wet moss just to see inside. If you make it impossible for them: they won't come, period.
17) If your house is a crappy color like, Pumpkin, paint it!

Or you can hire a professional who has access to the MLS and professional home stagers and bankers and is partnered with over 300 online and print media outlets. Who knows how to properly market a home and deal with all sorts of buyers from all sorts of backgrounds and heritages. One who will show your home, so you don't have to be there every second and you can enjoy your lifestyle and time with the family and your avocations you've been accustomed to up until now.

If you really want to proceed, then it is also recommended that you seek competent Real Estate Counsel to handle all the rest.

Good luck there.

CM