We are all trying to save money wherever we can.
And with all of the information available to us today through the internet and social media, DIY is one of the best ways to save money.
I’ve been amazed at the ease of certain projects that I never thought I’d be able to do until I looked at pictures on Pinterest or watched someone do it on YouTube. Personally, I’ve built a shed and table without plans. But I’ve seen others rebuild car engines and build entire houses DIY!
So when it comes to selling your home, it is no surprise that some people want to DIY. After all, why pay to do something that you could save money by doing yourself?
If you’re thinking about selling For Sale By Owner (FSBO), you might think I am writing here to tell you not to. But while I certainly want to earn your business, I want you to be the one to answer the question “Should I sell my house For Sale By Owner?” for yourself.
To help you answer that question, here are some of the most important questions you need to be prepared to answer when selling a home:
Getting Ready
What do I need to do in order to get my house ready to sell?
What do I need to repair, update, or remodel? How does that affect pricing?
Pricing
How do I determine how much my house is worth?
Should I list the house for what it’s worth? Do I ask for more? Less?
Marketing and Showing
How do I market my house? Where do I market my house?
Who should I allow to view the house? Should I show it to anyone who asks?
Qualifying Buyers
How do I know if a buyer is qualified to buy my home?
Will I be willing to pay a buyer’s agent 3% if they have a buyer interested in my home? Or am I relying solely on unrepresented buyers?
Legal Documents and Sale Process
Once I have a qualified buyer, what contract documents, necessary addenda, and legal disclosures do I need?
How do I execute a contract and what happens after that?
Contract to Close
What happens when the inspection shows items in need of repair?
What is an appraisal and what happens if the house doesn’t appraise?
What do we need to do to finalize the sale? How do we make it official?
These are just a few of the handful of questions you’ll need to be able to answer if you plan to sell your house on your own. If you’re able to answer all of these confidently, you’re certainly on the right track!
But if you’re reading through this and thinking there might be a few more steps to the process than you realized, that’s what we’re here for at Edgewater Realty!
And we want our service to feel worth it to you. I realize that you might feel like paying 6% is more than you want to pay. But what if we saved you 10% in the process? Let me share a quick story:
FSBO Case Study
A few years ago, a client called me about a house with a For Sale By Owner sign. We called the number, got an asking price, and immediately scheduled a showing ready to make an offer because we knew it was a good price.
The seller admitted during the showing that he chose to list FSBO because he didn’t want to pay an agent. His problem, which he didn’t realize, was that he was asking $30,000 less for the house than what the comparable houses were selling for.
Why didn’t he know? Because he relied on a third party valuation website to determine his asking price, not having any idea that these websites only provide an estimate and there are a lot of other factors to consider to determine what a house should sell for.
While listing a house for $30,000 less than what it’s worth can sometimes work out when buyers start to get into a bidding war, no such situation occurred here. We were the first and only call he got about the house. The seller never marketed the property online. Very few people would have even known that this house was for sale, only the neighbors who drove by.
When all was said and done, the seller “saved” about $20,000 in closing costs by not hiring an agent, but then he missed out on a gain of about $30,000 (and possibly more). This resulted in him making at least $10,000 less than he could have had he hired a listing agent.
He might have paid less in closing costs, but he didn’t save money.
In conclusion
If you’re still deciding whether or not to sell For Sale By Owner, contact Edgewater Realty today and allow us the opportunity to help you decide! Click the link here to schedule an appointment today and we will walk you through your options for selling to see if For Sale By Owner is right for you!