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I own a temporary house, but planning to move to other state in next 6 month or so.
There is a huge demand for the houses in my current area. Multiple offers just in one day.
But I don't want to lose 6% on my house giving easy money to agents.
It is better for me if it takes longer to get an offer (maybe a couple of weeks instead of 1-3 days), but without losing 6%.
Does anyone have any sale by owner experience? What do I have to consider? I don't know much details about real estate transactions. If I find a buyer personally, can we just go to a title company and get everything done there?
Thank you for the comments.
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I sold 2 FSBO's personally before I was a licensed agent. The biggest thing I took away once I WAS licensed is this: there are countless ways to get sued in a real estate transaction. The fact that you claim to not know much about the actual process (and I'm assuming the disclosure laws, ect) does not give me a ton of confidence in your situation. If doing "the easy work" is something you are set on doing, educate the hell out of yourself, you're going to need it. I'm not anti-FSBO at all; it may be the best course of action for certain homeowners. I just don't know if its the best course for you.
Thanks a lot everyone! Tons of useful info!
I will consider all +/- and maybe deal with an agent this time.
But anyway I still have several months before selling the house.
I consider the 6% money well spent. Too much to do and too much liability if you screw it up by doing it yourself.
If you do go FSBO, you should offer to "cooperate" with the buyers agent or else you will cut yourself out of a large percentage of the available buyers who have their own agent to protect their interest. Cooperating means paying them the 3% they would normally get providing a qualified, serious buyer.
I agree with the flat rate listing agent comment previously, in my market there are a couple who will handle various task like putting it on the MLS, reviewing a purchase agreement, providing a lock box, for various fees. You might save a little but overall its well worth it to list with a competent agent who will get you top dollar and not have the headache/liability of a FSBO.
I honestly would feel fine selling my own house. The one thing that I would be concerned with is making sure your house is open to the market at large so you get market sales price. It may be worth it to find a way to list it on MLS somehow for a flat fee as some have suggested.
I personally would not pay someone 6% or whatever to hand me a few cookie cutter forms and try to urge me to lower the sales price so they can get their commission faster. Real estate agents don't do a whole lot to earn their money in my opinion. But that is just mine. The main asset they have is the MLS, which is why it's so protected, but if you can get your listing on there you should be in good shape. If you are not savvy with legalese it would make sense to have someone make sure the necessary documents are in place.
I will offer up my 2 cents. I'm in TX in a hot market area, too, and will be selling my home.
I looked at a lot of FSBOs 20 years ago, when house hunting. The problems I had with them were:
1. They were almost always overpriced; owners are not objective about their homes and tend to overvalue them. (I noticed you said there would not be any repairs required by the buyer because your house is perfect, but there are almost always repairs requested by buyers.)
2. It was downright uncomfortable looking at homes while the owners were there. I wasn't free to criticize without hurting feelings. They also tended to talk too much and point out how wonderful their homes were. It was a distraction.
3. I tried to buy one of them, actually, but found the woman FSBO seller-owner too emotional to deal with. When I proposed a closing date 45 days out (there was no contract yet, even), she blew up because she wanted me to close in about 2 weeks because she had a sick mother, blah blah blah. She didn't understand the business. So I didn't buy it, and it sat there for many months, unsold (but was eventually listed with a broker....for the price I offered to buy it. Do you see the mistake she made? She would then get a little less than I had offered, and have to pay 6% off the top. And this was the following year, after she would have had to pay for maintenance, utilities, property taxes.) The homeowners sometimes don't know a good deal when they see it.
4. I saw most FSBOs later, listed by a broker. They had been unsuccessful at selling their homes.
5. In my hot area, occasionally I see a FSBO sign go up. I have never seen one with a sold sign. Every one I've noticed, a sign by a realtor popped up, and then the house sold.
Regarding closing costs, the seller does have closing costs. You will have prorated taxes, and a couple of other things, to be paid at closing. Unless you've prepaid your taxes for 2015, so the buyer will pay to reimburse you.
Last edited by bpollen; 10-05-2015 at 04:43 PM..
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