FSBO tips - For Sale By Owner Help

Selling your House - Why FSBO

FSBO Tips - How to sell your own house more effectively

1. Most obviously, you want your home to looks its best. Get rid of clutter, clean up the front yard, paint any dirty or faded walls (paint is $20 a gallon, and a few hours of work can really make the interior of your home look better). Clean carpets - who is impressed by your old coffee or pet stains in the family room? If you want a buyer to be excited when they see your home, make sure dirt and fix-it items are not the first thing they see.

2. Let prospective buyers view your house in private - after a brief overview, offer to wait outside or go for a walk for 10-15 minutes to allow them to look and discuss without you getting in the way. Also, make it easy for people to see your home, including evenings and weekends. You need to be flexible to meet THEIR needs and schedules.

3. Get an online listing with a FSBO or other site (like Craigslist) and have multiple pictures ready to go. Most people can decide whether they want to see a property or not after seeing a few pictures of it - don't waste yours or their time by having people come to see a property they will know they don't want the second they get there.

4. Pets- if you have pets, get them out of the house. Not everyone likes cats and dogs and snakes as much as you do, and no one likes getting jumped on, clothes dirtied, or being told they can't see the garage or yard because of pet issues. Put the dog or cat in the car if needed for the 30 minutes when you have a showing.

5. Price your home correctly. Sure, we all wish our house was worth $5 million, but if it is only worth $200,000, don't "start" with a price of $300K and hope to negotiate down to $250K - just like you, buyers are not that stupid. If your house is overpriced, it makes similar homes look that much better since they offer everything yours does, at a lower price. If you have an awesome home in a great neighborhood with limited supply, you may get away with a slightly above market asking price, but you don't want to scare off potential buyer who have a psychological price ceiling of $499 by listing yours at $539K if it is really a $499 house.

6. Consider a real estate lawyer - it never hurts to have an experienced professional in your corner when handling a multi-hundred thousand dollar transaction. Negotiate a fixed fee for handling purchase and sales agreement, reviewing proposed changes to the contract, and handling escrow for you.

7. Find a good title company. A good title company can often handle much of the legal paperwork for you - since this is all they do, they have a lot of expertise you can tap into. Get a referral for one, and then set up a meeting to find out how they can assist you in the process.

8. Signs and open houses. Just like the regular realtors, a FSBO seller should be advertising and marketing his property - signs in the yard, signs on the fence, ads in the local newspaper, etc. Do a online search for "FSBO MLS listing", and looking into getting your home listed in the MLS system. This is the system used by realtors, and now by prospective home buyers as well on the internet, to find out what properties are available in their area. By paying a listing fee, you can let hundreds of potential buyers know your home exists and is on the market.