FSBO Conundrum...Need help, ideas, counseling?

**snowsprite** · 02-22-2012, 02:11 PM

Hey, I'm in the process of debating whether or not to go For Sale By Owner while unloading this behemoth POS I got stuck w/ here. It's actually a nice place, and I'm working on getting it staged nicely. One thing I know is I can stage a place to sell. My past few realtors have told me this. Question is, am I prepared/able to do the other remaining necessary thing myself. I know I'll need to hire an atty for closing. Have help re: showing the place and not scared b/c I won't be doing that on my own.

Has anyone here used this site: http://usrealty.com
I used their calculator and if I did successfully sell myself I'd be keeping about half my yearly salary in my pocked! This is confirmed when obtaining several realtor fees in my area and doing the calculations myself. GULP.

Any feedback, horror stories, success stories would be greatly appreciated. I need to make this decision within a month or two...

Sprite

**pointemstraight** · 02-22-2012, 02:17 PM

My advice - high quality photos bring in prospective buyers. Hiring a local pro to shoot your staged house (a few hundred bucks) will pay for itself in actual showings.

**bagtagley** · 02-22-2012, 02:21 PM

Good friend sold two houses on FSBO with no issues. Listing, showing and closing are the major bases, and it looks like you've got those covered.

**irul&ublo** · 02-22-2012, 02:27 PM

Why do you need a lawyer for closing?

**Downbound Train** · 02-22-2012, 02:47 PM

Bought my house FSBO. Smooth as silk.

My wife insisted we have a lawyer at closing and all he did was read the pre-printed forms out loud and have both parties sign in the spaces provided. No brainer.

Maybe you should consult with someone ahead of closing to make sure you have all you ducks in a row.

**Boomer28** · 02-22-2012, 02:53 PM

If you have the time to stage, show and follow up then by all means do it.

There are a ton of good resources online for step-by-step tips on what you need to do as well as state specific considerations.

You can even pay a small fee to get it on MLS so it will be seen by everyone including buyer's agents. FSBO.com is another good site and you should also post in local papers and NY Times.

Agree 100% on the pictures. It is amazing how shitty so many listings are these days. Multiple shots of each room, exteriors and a floor plan is the way to go.

You will get a lot of people who are not serious and lots of people who will try and pick you off but if you stick it out it will work just fine.

**Tye 1on** · 02-22-2012, 02:56 PM

What would it hurt to try FSBO first? If you get no lookers or offers you can always go toward a realtor then.

[at least that's my plan with my lot this summer]

**bagtagley** · 02-22-2012, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Tye 1on

What would it hurt to try FSBO first? If you get no lookers or offers you can always go toward a realtor then.

[at least that's my plan with my lot this summer]

My thoughts. Hell, at $399 for the full package, that site you linked is worth "seeing what happens".

**ass-to-mouth** · 02-22-2012, 03:01 PM

Lower the price

**dan_pdx** · 02-22-2012, 05:00 PM

When I bought my house, my real estate agent did SFA and walked away with what, a couple percent of the purchase price? Ditto for the seller's agent -- I think the two agents split 7% of the purchase price, is that right?

I haven't had to sell a place yet, but I will definitely try FSBO when the time comes. I think it's totally worth flipping a lawyer a few hundred bucks or whatever it costs to make sure that everything is solid - title is transferred, sale recorded and blah blah blah.

And to be honest, real estate agents -- especially seller's agents -- are mis-incentivized. You want to set the highest price you can get, they want to sell it as fast as possible so they can collect their commission. Seems like it's definitely worth trying FSBO just to see how it goes -- you can always give up and get an agent if it doesn't go well.

Good luck!

**snowsprite** · 02-22-2012, 09:33 PM

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm quite surprised actually. I was ready to duck tomatoes...and here everyone is kind of like "go for it, why not?"

I feel this way too. If it's a miserable fail, I could bail and use a realtor. But to be quite honest...the situation is such that if I use a realtor I break even and walk with literally nothing in my pocket (based on realistic asking price...and let's be real, I NEED to sell so I have to be practical in what I ask). If I sell it myself, I walk away w/ a realtor fee...not a lot but enough to rent an apt, get my ducks in a row, etc. Option 1 is scari-er...since I have nothing to speak of. I'm coming off a very bad financial rollercoaster ride...

Anyway, whatever other info you can offer please do chime in. The success stories are encouraging. This is (as small as it is) my ace in the hole...the only thing I have to go on to springboard any kind of future. So a lot depends on it.
Thanks

Sprite

**pointedem** · 02-22-2012, 09:58 PM

if the buyer is working with a good mortgage guy, you are pumped.

If not, it's pretty straight forward. Really you could learn all the you needed to know in 2 working days. 16 hours of learning to save you 3% is a no-brainer. No need for a lawyer if it's a basic residential transaction, provided you did all your due diligence.

**Tye 1on** · 02-22-2012, 10:35 PM

Question having bought a house a year ago as a jong...

would a lawyer for closing be really needed, or is the key to have a good title company do the closing, with the typical split of costs...?

**Art Shirk** · 02-22-2012, 11:39 PM

Spritey, look into mls4owners.com. My friend founded the company and he also is the designated broker for my realty company. He created his business exactly for people in your situation. Pm me if you want my name to drop if you wanna call him.

Sent from my MZ617 using TGR Forums

**jfost** · 02-22-2012, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by pointedem

... No need for a lawyer if it's a basic residential transaction...

Originally Posted by irul&ublo

Why do you need a lawyer for closing?

Originally Posted by Tye 1on

...would a lawyer for closing be really needed, or is the key to have a good title company do the closing...

I feel like there's an argument here, just can't put my finger on it... http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...fer-on-a-house

j/k - you might or might not - check your state&local rules! We sold in CA FSBO and used 1st American Title to do the closing - they do NOT take a 3% fee or anything like that, they just have their own closing costs and fees which you can negotiate who pays (buyer/seller) Our local standard was a split of closing costs but our buyer paid them all for some good reason, can't remember why?!? It was done in no time, and a great way to save us mega$$$ as there was no buying agent either - we sold at an amount less than what would have been on the open market and "split the difference" with our buyer, so in effect we netted the 3% commish ourselves.

As said, why not give it a go?

**LeeC** · 02-23-2012, 01:20 AM

I got lucky, just sold mine yesterday. The guy renting bought it. I just had the attorney draw me up a little contract agreement(3 pages). He signed we signed.Bank ok'd..Sold...I got the attorney just in case, but in reality it was not needed for me.. I would always get one in case.. Saved us both the fees though..I actually feels rather lucky though, I know how shit usually goes sideways, but this one did not. I did not want to deal with the BS..MLS, FSBO etc, but if you don't know anyone that wants to buy, then you are going to have to exhaust all outlets just to get people in there. It does not seem like people are really out buying, but right now I don't care..I only needed one..Good luck.

Lee

**snowsprite** · 02-23-2012, 03:35 AM

4:28 am EST

The main casualty of "big life decisions" = sleep

Again, this place does not disappoint. I thank you much for all the info! Commonlaw, I will be looking @ your friend's site and would not hurt to have a name to drop...I'll PM you!

Glad to hear sitch worked well LeeC. I have a renter too...but these guys unfortunately can't take on this place though I'm sure they wish they had the cash to do so. I have often thought that it would be really great to just give them my house if only I won the lottery or something as they are a very nice (albeit loud) young couple who would clearly go crazy with joy and it would make me very happy too.

Now there have to be some pointers floating around re: winning the lottery or inheriting/finding a big pile of money...

Sprite

**rideit** · 02-23-2012, 04:04 AM

Good luck, sprite!
I know you can pull it off.

So, why not offer to trade the house in Gear Swap for, say, 10 Tiny houses! You could just leave them at cool places....

(ugh, I havent slept in two nights myself, even with a nice surgery thrown n the middle of the day)

**RShea** · 02-23-2012, 07:04 AM

How are you planning on coming up with an asking price and value estimate on the place? Pay for an Appraisal of the place? Try and do the research yourself for comparable sales?

Not stating you should not give it a go, but make sure you do not price it wrong.

**LeeC** · 02-23-2012, 09:31 AM

I knew what I wanted out of my house, and I also knew what the houses around me were selling for. That made it easy to come up with a price. Zillow is a good place to start, it was about 10,000 off what I was asking though. but do not take it literally..Just a start. If you really want to know what it is worth, get a appraisal.
We had been in that neighborhood a while, so using neighbors, and friends to get the word out might help, because they might like to help, so they know who their next neighbor will be. Make sure they know that if they buy it they will be saving the fee's. For my house it would have been about 9500.00..Lot of money

**snowsprite** · 02-23-2012, 10:01 AM

Yeah, I'm doing what Lee did...looking at com-parables in the MLS and also Zillow. I'm always looking at what is selling around here and around town that's like my house. I also plan to price it a wee bit "under" so as to make people see it is priced very right. I'm not going to dick people around with putting some big tag on it and having them talk me down. I'm going to price it realistically, and have data (print outs from zillow, MLS) to back up that's what other houses all around the area that are comparable are selling/have sold for and then stick to that more or less. I will have that stuff ready to hand out to every visitor.

I had a realtor appraise about 3 month ago and not much has changed. Prices have actually gone down

A lot of FSBO houses I looked at when I was buying were overpriced and owners were either like "talk me down" or the owners had some kind of emotional connection to the house and really *believed* that is what it was worth regardless of the facts and figures shown by the market. I don't want to be that person!

I like the idea of getting the word out to friends/family of people in the hood here. Also, I am going to have a fact sheet printed up detailing how much money they can save and keep in pocket by doing FSBO. Many people need to see this spelled out for them IMO.

Sprite

**smmokan** · 02-23-2012, 10:23 AM

Sprite- one other thing to consider... if you're looking to buy another house in the same area, a lot of realtors will take a reduced commission on your sale if they're promised the commission on your purchase. I'm in the same boat as you and was considering the FSBO route. But, by the time I built a website, did all the marketing, showings, etc., I figured it would be worth looking into a realtor. I found one that's going to sell for ~4%, which means it's really not costing me much at all to sell. From what I've read, most FSBOs need to offer the 2-3% buyer's agent commission anyways- or at least most end up doing it at some point. For a few thousand bucks, I'd rather not worry about it and make sure everything is done right.

**XXX-er** · 02-23-2012, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by snowsprite

A lot of FSBO houses I looked at when I was buying were overpriced and owners were either like "talk me down" or the owners had some kind of emotional connection to the house and really *believed* that is what it was worth regardless of the facts and figures shown by the market. I don't want to be that person!

Sprite

Yeah the emotional thing is big which is one of the things you pay an RE agent to insulate you from, if you don't like "the Dealing" the asking people for large sums of $ face to face do all the dealing by e-mail to de-personalize the process a bit and it leaves a paper trail of what has been said

if you are doing a fsbo I would especialy use a lawyer even tho you may not need to but, but up here almost all deals use a lawyer or at least a notary public (might be something to do with the banking system?) so I am just used to them

and on that note check what is required in your jurisdiction because its not gona be the same as everybody who has responded to you

**Buke** · 02-23-2012, 11:05 AM

My experience in buying and selling houses is that the agent who represents the seller provides value by properly pricing the house. If you can properly price the house then there's no reason to pay an agent for that. Where people screw up doing it themselves is they either think their house is worth too much or they price it too low.

Ultimately, it's the agent representing the buyers who sells the house. Make sure that you're willing to give them their 2-3% or whatever they get normally, otherwise you may find that there aren't that many people coming to look.

**smmokan** · 02-23-2012, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Buke

My experience in buying and selling houses is that the agent who represents the seller provides value by properly pricing the house. If you can properly price the house then there's no reason to pay an agent for that.

I'm not a big proponent of RE agents, but even I know they provide a lot more than correct pricing for your house.