[macguy]

Last weekend my wife and I took a ride up to the property we have for sale. During the week my wife got the idea to put a few sign in the area with lot for sale some info and our number. I was almost embarrassed to do it but she went to a plastics supply and bought some of what is called corrugated plastic sheet. It is pretty cheep like $16.00 for a 4 x 8 sheet you can get about 10 signs from.

They mount on the metal frames you see with political signs around election time. You can get the frames at any sign supply but I salvaged a bunch from the last election with the signs that were left out. It is not really stealing they should remove them anyway and the half rusty frames aren't worth anything anyway. Well, we got calls right away from the signs and one from a couple who when they saw our sign were on their way into the complex to sign a deal on another property, they had not even seen my lot.

I have a feeling realtors don't even drive people past a FSbyO in case they want to look at it. Anyway, I sent them some aerial pictures of the lot and all the info and have an appointment for Wednesday to meet them at the lot. They are really excited about the lot, mine is a nicer and bigger lot (1.23 acres) and we are asking less then they were just about to pay for the other lot. I feel very sure we will have a deal. It is funny all the other approaches I have tried and it looks like I got the most action from silly signs like a garage sale would use. I will keep you informed.

[Jammie]

Alright!!! Kudos to your wife for trying this. Isn't it funny how some of the simpler and old fashioned things are what brings results?

[lulu]

Sure why not? Sounds great...& something I would do.
The last house we sold, I swear this is true...took some clutter out, cleaned w/old fashioned soap & water, baked a regular ole' cake for the aroma around the house, cut a piece of white cardboard & wrote 'for sale by owner' & phone number, put it on the window & it worked.
Good luck...

[HernandoLuxuryHomes]

Congratulations and best of luck to you. The "Ugly Little Signs" are a great marketing tactic to get phones to ring in a slower market - although not necessarily the most "classy" thing to do (you're not alone, most of us realtors don't particularly "enjoy" using them, either), they do tend to get a decent response.

As far as whether REALTORS will show a FSBO property - that depends on whether the FSBO is cooperating with REALTORS or not, and whether the REALTOR is aware of that cooperation. If I'm bringing some buyers around and have an agreement to get paid by those buyers, then yes, I will show them anything, because that's what I'm getting paid to do - however, if I'm expecting my fees to be taken care of by the selling side of the transaction...and the FSBO is not offering any compensation to a REALTOR who brings them a buyer...then no, I most likely wouldn't go out of my way to show their property. To explain it a bit more clearly, I don't know of anybody who enjoys working for free.

As a FSBO, I would suggest that if you want REALTORS to show your property, you put "REALTORS OK" or "Cooperating with REALTORS" on your signage - that lets them know to contact you not necessarily about LISTING your home, but about showing it to their potential buyers.

Again - best of luck and I hope your transaction moves forward smoothly.

Josh

[macguy]

Originally Posted by HernandoLuxuryHomes

Congratulations and best of luck to you. The "Ugly Little Signs" are a great marketing tactic to get phones to ring in a slower market - although not necessarily the most "classy" thing to do (you're not alone, most of us realtors don't particularly "enjoy" using them, either), they do tend to get a decent response.

As far as whether REALTORS will show a FSBO property - that depends on whether the FSBO is cooperating with REALTORS or not, and whether the REALTOR is aware of that cooperation. If I'm bringing some buyers around and have an agreement to get paid by those buyers, then yes, I will show them anything, because that's what I'm getting paid to do - however, if I'm expecting my fees to be taken care of by the selling side of the transaction...and the FSBO is not offering any compensation to a REALTOR who brings them a buyer...then no, I most likely wouldn't go out of my way to show their property. To explain it a bit more clearly, I don't know of anybody who enjoys working for free.

As a FSBO, I would suggest that if you want REALTORS to show your property, you put "REALTORS OK" or "Cooperating with REALTORS" on your signage - that lets them know to contact you not necessarily about LISTING your home, but about showing it to their potential buyers.

Again - best of luck and I hope your transaction moves forward smoothly.

Josh

Yes, we also just put a sign on the property saying Realtors Welcome.

[Prichard]

A couple words of advice. Marketing a house, or lot, and getting offers is only part of the process. After you've evaluated various "offers", you need to decide which is the best to go forward with. Some of the things you should be asking is:
1) In the case of a house: How should I market and show the house;
2) Can the potential buyer actually complete the transaction;
3) Do I need to give a "financing contingency", and how does this affect me;
4) Is the deposit substantial enough to compensate me if the buyer backs out;
5) How do I structure the "due dilligence" period for raw land;
6) How do I deal with the "inspection period" for houses; or for commercial;
7) which form of contract is best to use - in Florida we have the FAR and FAR-BAR contracts for residences, a Vacant Land contract for raw land, and an "as-is" contract, each may need various addenda depending upon the terms of your deal; there are other types of "form" contracts as well. As a FSBO you should stay away from using any other form of contract, or consult a lawyer before structuring a contract;
8) Who is going to hold the escrow deposit and who is going to close the transaction;
9) what inspections need to take place;
10) survey?;
11) title report? title issues? who is to take title/own the property?
12) who is going to pay the various costs of closing;
13) what form of deed;
14) what/when is a seller required to disclose matters concerning the property?

Before you even advertise your property as a FSBO, you should know the answers to most of the above questions. Once you sign a contract prepared by someone else, you're locked in - be careful! I've sold several houses FSBO and I know what I'm doing. This is not something a novice wants to do, without proper guidence at least for the first couple of times.

[Jammie]

Wouldn't the title company tie up any loose ends that would be in question?

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Prichard

A couple words of advice. Marketing a house, or lot, and getting offers is only part of the process. After you've evaluated various "offers", you need to decide which is the best to go forward with. Some of the things you should be asking is:
1) In the case of a house: How should I market and show the house;
2) Can the potential buyer actually complete the transaction;
3) Do I need to give a "financing contingency", and how does this affect me;
4) Is the deposit substantial enough to compensate me if the buyer backs out;
5) How do I structure the "due dilligence" period for raw land;
6) How do I deal with the "inspection period" for houses; or for commercial;
7) which form of contract is best to use - in Florida we have the FAR and FAR-BAR contracts for residences, a Vacant Land contract for raw land, and an "as-is" contract, each may need various addenda depending upon the terms of your deal; there are other types of "form" contracts as well. As a FSBO you should stay away from using any other form of contract, or consult a lawyer before structuring a contract;
8) Who is going to hold the escrow deposit and who is going to close the transaction;
9) what inspections need to take place;
10) survey?;
11) title report? title issues? who is to take title/own the property?
12) who is going to pay the various costs of closing;
13) what form of deed;
14) what/when is a seller required to disclose matters concerning the property?

Before you even advertise your property as a FSBO, you should know the answers to most of the above questions. Once you sign a contract prepared by someone else, you're locked in - be careful! I've sold several houses FSBO and I know what I'm doing. This is not something a novice wants to do, without proper guidence at least for the first couple of times.

I have a real-estate attorney, that is pretty much all she does. I don't think I would do anything without an attorney even is I was listed with an agent. I want someone who only has my interest in mind. A lot of good points, the problem is there is no guarantee problems can't arise even with an agent, especially if your turns out to be an idiot. You always have to have you bases covered.

[lulu]

I wouldn't move without my real estate attorney & she charged me about $400 or so when we sold the townhome my mom was living at - she covers practically all bases & to me this is the real bargain. Never, ever had a problem. And she's there for me during and afterwards in case problems were to arise - in case a title company doesn't really do their job or whatever....

For instance...in the 1980's we had bought a brand new house in a new development and like 2 yrs later we got a surprise bill for past due taxes on the land for about $4000+ that was never paid for by the developer - it's usually passed on to the unsuspecting buyers. I just gave her a quick call... and the matter was solved in a jiffy.

[Prichard]

If you're going to sell by owner, then using a real estate attorney is a good idea. Just make sure that for those who have never done this before, that you consult the attorney before you start negotiating with a potential buyer. Then, like others have pointed out here, you should be in good shape.

Regarding title companies. Their function is to order a title search report based on the information you've put in your contract. The title search report will either come back "clean", or will show issues concerning your title that need to be addressed. Often title fixes are quite simple, others a little more complicated, still others might require legal action, and some titles cannot be fixed no matter what you do. The title company is generally not responsible for fixing your title, this is the seller's responsiblity to hire an attorney to address these problems. The other function of a title company is to prepare everything for closing and then "close" the pruchase and sale. They prepare the closing statement, along with the deed and other documents. The closing statement should reflect exactly what was agreed to in the contract. If the contract is a poorly written document, leaving cost issues vague, that's when you can have dissagreements between closer, seller and buyer at the time of closing. This is usually not the closer's fault, not the attorney's fault, but the fault of a realtor who is inexperienced or didn't have their client's best interest at stake. Or, it can be due to FSBOs who don't know what they are doing and haven't consulted with a real estate attorney.