To sell or not to sell my house For Sale By Owner

[lovetobehome]

It's finally happened! We are making a BIG move across the country, leaving the north and heading south!

We've had a bunch of realtors come out to take a look at our house and tell us their marketing plans etc, they all know I am undecided about which company to use or whether to even use a realtor. I just wonder how many people out there have done FSBO and how it worked out. Was it worth it? Did it take a lot longer to sell than you expected? I am hoping to sell our place within 60-90 days to move in the summer. We'll wait until the house is sold before we move down south, and there we plan to rent a year to find what we really want.

In our area, real estate is good...there is not enough housing in our area, so there are buyers looking in all price ranges.

What do you think? Do you get a higher price using a realtor to make up for the fees? Would welcome any experiences. Thank you!

[Parrothead]

It was definitely cheaper to do it without a Realtor. It cost me less than $500.

 

The house was in one of those areas where there isn't enough housing to go around so we had an offer the day it was announced for sale.

[TravelingChris]

WE have bought three houses in our life. None were from FSBO. Why? We were always moving to a new area when we were buying and so we always used realtors. I know think that if we were to ever move to a different house (right now we hope to be in the house we just bought last July for 30 to 40 years), we would probably still use a realtor unless we were moving into a retirement community. Just know that you exclude all the people who are using a realtor from looking at your house. Oh and one reason so many people won't look at FSBO houses is because you all don't discount the house for the lack of a realtor. It would be one thing if your house was priced most of the realtor's commission less than the going price. But generally FSBO charge the whole price with no discount so there is zero incentive for a home buyer to go look.

[TranquilMind]

It was definitely cheaper to do it without a Realtor. It cost me less than $500.

 

The house was in one of those areas where there isn't enough housing to go around so we had an offer the day it was announced for sale.

Same here. Cost me $500 WITH a new Realtor who was about to get out of the biz. He met me, offered me an MLS listing for $500, and I did all the work.

 

Caveat: If I recall correctly, Parrothead is an attorney, as am (was) I. So that is a huge factor. If you are not, then HIRE a real estate attorney. A few hundred bucks for the paperwork instead of thousands for a Realtor, who can only fill out paperwork, but who may -or may not - bring you buyers.

 

It's worth a try, if you have an attorney. Have him prepare the Purchase Agreement (or use a Realtor agreement, because they are attorney-drafted, at least, and be prepared. You have to follow all state/federal laws. You must give the buyer a Lead Paint Brochure if the house was built prior to 1978, and you must do a condition statement, noting all defects.

[StaceyinLA]

It gave us a lot of flexibility on the price, and quite frankly, I'd rather be able to offer the buyer the discount than have to pay thousands to a realtor. Ours always moved within a couple weeks!

[mumto2]

I am not sure about the for sale by owner just because it is so awful to be home when the house is being shown.

 

My main piece of advice is not to list with a friend. We did -- it made our sale so complicated -- she kept " solving " things for us. We had moved but it was still our house. DH and I were continuously forced to do things her way -- it was never in our favor. We had to beg to reduce the price so we could be done. Each day we owned that house was costing money. It is business and should be treated that way.

 

Now that I am remembering that maybe for sale by owner is easier!!!

[sbgrace]

We bought our current home from an owner. He was non-negotiable on the price and could care less whether he sold it so I don't think it would have mattered whether there was a realtor. That said, I do wonder sometimes if we over-paid. We are in an area where there is almost nothing for sale too.

 

We're looking for a home in another area and have looked at a for sale by owner. I wouldn't be opposed to doing that again if the price and home were right for us. That said, it's hard to find them when you're house hunting. You'd want to make sure you advertise well if you go that route---particularly since you want to move quick. You will likely miss people who are trying to move in the area and relying on searches through realtor sites. Are those realtors willing to tell you a market price knowing you're going to try FSBO?