For sale by owner (FSBO) means that you’re choosing to sell your home instead of working with a professional real estate agent. The reason for taking this route is primarily to save money. However, selling a property won’t be easy for everyone. It requires time, patience, and knowledge—attributes that listing agents have honed for years. If you’re prepared to learn how to sell your house by owner, this article aims to share how you can sell your home successfully as a professional would.
How Does FSBO Work?
Managing the entire process to find the best way to sell your house by owner is your responsibility since you don’t have the assistance of a professional. You’ll set the price and do the marketing yourself.
One thing you should understand is that while you won’t be paying out any commissions, you will deduct approximately 3% to pay the buyer’s agent. Note that sellers hiring real estate agents have to pay up to 6% of the property’s selling price.
For more information, carefully examine the other pros and cons of For Sale By Owner:
PROS:
- When you want to sell your house by owner, you have control over the price, what goes into the listing details, and how you market your home to buyers.
- Scheduling a private tour or show is up to you. You have the choice to decide when it’s convenient for you and your potential buyer.
CONS:
The negative side will depend on your knowledge of and experience in home selling. If you’re a beginner, here are areas where you might struggle:
- If you’re listing your house, managing the sale can demand the greatest effort. You’ll be answering calls from interested buyers and scheduling an open house by yourself.
- Buyers will likely ask for a lower selling price. And if you don’t know how to negotiate as professional real estate agents do, you’ll have to settle.
- You’re likely to make mistakes when pricing your home. As a result, it might sit longer in the market without any interested buyers.
- Since you choose to take up the responsibility of listing and marketing, you’ll juggle your tasks and rearrange schedules to accommodate buyers.
Steps To Sell Your House By Owner
Now that you have a better idea of the pros and cons of selling your house on your own, you can now start to look into the specific steps of selling your house by owner:
- Determine The Fair Market Value Of The Home
It can be tricky to sell your house by owner because you have to find the right balance when pricing your home. If it’s too high, it will repel buyers. Price the home too low, and you’ll get less cash than what the house is truly worth.
There are ways you can price and sell your home without a realtor:
- Go through online valuation sites that can help you put a value on your home. These websites will have features that you can use for free. However, keep in mind that their estimates won’t always be correct as they can be off with thousands of dollars.
- Hire a professional appraiser who can give you an accurate value on your home. The appraisal also makes a good baseline when negotiating with buyers. But professional appraisers also cost money, and a valuation report could mean paying up to USD$500. Hiring an appraiser yourself is also not accepted by mortgage lenders.
Have a real estate agent do a detailed market analysis of your property by using other comparable homes in the area. However, the agent will perform a sales pitch and might give you an enticing price to make you list with them. At this point, the choice is yours.
2. Stage Your Home
Once a price has been established, prepare your home. Go through the structure and determine what needs fixing or upgrading. The property needs to be ready to entice buyers. Clean the house and do some painting on the walls and ceilings, if necessary. Have professionals clean the carpet, fix the roof, or repair the foundation.
Depending on the condition of your home, staging it can be a daunting task because it also means hiring professional people to work in your home if you can’t do all of it yourself. After all, the house needs to sell for a higher price, and you need to get the correct returns when you’re pouring money over the home renovation.
3. Do Marketing Tasks
Once the house is ready for sale, get the place out there so that buyers can find it. It takes a bit more effort to market the home by yourself because you have to do what you must to get absolute property exposure to buyers.
Here are ways to do it:
- Put up a sign in front of your home to draw interest.
- Tell friends, family, and colleagues by word of mouth and by posting the best pictures of the house on your social media accounts.
- Register at real estate websites and create a detailed listing of the features of the home and photos.
- Print flyers and brochures with information about the home’s sale and distribute them in public places where it is allowed.
Once you’re done fixing your home and taking care of the paperwork for sale by owner, you’ll have to deal with the waiting game at this point. Be sure to be ready to take calls and read replies to your online posts about the sale of the house. Be as proactive as you can so you won’t miss any inquiries.
In Conclusion
If you’re thinking of selling your home, you should realize that it can be a hassle, especially when you can’t let go of certain other commitments. Learning how to sell your house demands your attention, knowledge, and effort, but it can be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the real estate business. At the same time, you also have to realize your limits and call for assistance if you need to. This article on how to sell your house on your own should serve as your guide throughout the entire process.
References
https://www.zillow.com/sellers-guide/how-to-sell-your-house-for-sale-by-owner/
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/selling-home-without-an-agent
https://www.moneyunder30.com/how-to-sell-your-house-by-owner-yourself-without-realtor
https://hometowndev.com/blog/how-to-sell-a-house-by-owner-a-step-by-step-guide/
