Weh-Hey! We've sold our house! |
|
For Sale by Owner | |||
| Quick, free advertising here: | |||
|
FSBO Price Comparison
FSBO vs Realtor Comparison
For Sale by Owner: Easy or Difficult? A real estate agent will tell you it’s difficult, FSBO sites may tell you it’s easy, but only you can decide. Treat it as a project, think through every step that needs to be taken from beginning to end, and assess whether you can and want to carry out all of those steps. Borrow a library book, or buy a FSBO kit. Many people have already done it, but many people have changed their minds halfway through and used a real estate agent. If you find a buyer and are unsure of the paperwork or procedure you can get help from a Transaction Only (FSBO-Friendly) Agent for a low commission or low fee. Recommended Books For Sale by Owner: Useful Links Legal Documents: Contract of Purchase and Sale Interactive Aerial Photography Maps The Steps
Pricing Get 2 or 3 real estate agents to value your house in terms of asking price and expected selling price. Hiring an appraiser will give you just one opinion. You’re just as likely to be accurate if you spend time researching yourself and averaging the agents’ valuations. Compare your house with other houses for sale in newspapers and on the web. Decide what appliances and fittings are included with the house. Compare size, age, location, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, lot size and condition. It is important to visit some of these houses to see what condition they are in, because this could make a 15% difference in value. Visit open houses. Ask your newest neighbors how much they paid. Compare tax assessment values. Ask a friend what they think would be a fair asking price, based on all the information you have. Don’t choose a lower asking price, but instead state in your adverts that you will pay full commission to a real estate agent. If there is no agent, you will be able to lower the price at the negotiation stage, making for a smoother deal. If there is an agent, tell him that he must convince the buyer the house is worth the full asking price. After all, you’re the one paying him. Don’t overprice, as it will make buyers more interested in other houses and may even lead to mortgage rejections. Being greedy is a common reason why some for sale by owner homes do not sell. Add a little psychology, and set your price just under a round figure. Marketing You want to place your home in the biggest possible market at the time you want to sell it. The market is largest in the spring and fall. As well as varying in size, there are different segments within the market, some of which may overlap. For example, there are people who are search for homes only on the internet; people who are using a real estate agent to find them a house; people who search only in the newspapers and magazines; investors; and people who are driving to or from another house for sale. Within these segments there are local people who are upgrading or downsizing, and those from out of town and know nothing of the area. To be sure, if you omit marketing to agents you will cut down your available market significantly.Advertising Assess how much your advertising will cost you. Consider using several means of advertising. You should certainly advertise on several FSBO websites. Yard Sign – You can make your own using purchased lettering or stencils, or find a local sign writer. Professional signs can be provided by some FSBO companies listed above. Directional signs may also be useful. You need to show “For Sale”, “By Owner”, your telephone number. Newspaper classifieds - You need to include location, price, “By Owner”, number of bedrooms, square footage and phone number. Consider carefully which papers you will use, and when. Internet – today the cheapest and most effective. Give as much detail as possible, without false exaggeration. Highlight the three most attractive features of your house. Use good grammar and avoid abbreviations. Upload a clear picture taken with a blue sky, ideally with the sun shining on the front of the house. Avoid taking parked cars. Offer a finder’s fee to agents with a buyer. The maximum rates they expect can be found in our commission table, but some will accept considerably less. Open houses - Very few houses sell this way, and it might be a headache to organize. Nevertheless, if you are up to it, you will attract more interest. Advertise it well, in the newspapers and with directional road signs. Hide valuables, and get some friends or family to help out. Detailed Information Sheet - It is a good idea to create an feature sheet (with a photo) about your home to give potential buyers. MLS® listings can be seen on the web. This is an excellent resource for buyers, but there can be a few days' delay between submitting your ad and it actually appearing online. You need an agent to place the ad for you, but some agents will do this for a flat fee. And also, place ads in your local stores, community centres or at work, and tell everyone you know that your home is for sale. Responding to Enquiries Be ready with a pen and pad to take notes. Have a copy of your detail sheet to hand. Have a diary ready so that you can make appointments on the spot. If you’re out, set your voice message to give your cell number. Arrange appointments back to back so that buyers can see that other people are interested. Early Preparation Identify and distinguish whether the work that needs to be done is an upgrade or general maintenance. Maintenance includes fresh paint, fixing damaged walls, carpet cleaning, oiling squeaky hinges, fixing displaced roof shakes, straightening the gutters and drains, repairing leaky faucets, washing away mold, replacing broken blinds, grouting and replacing light bulbs. The priority should be maintenance first, upgrades second. Signs of neglect will decrease the number of interested parties and lower the offer price. You might want to hire an inspector to identify the items needing attention. Upgrades, such as a modern kitchen, should bring in an offer faster and may command a premium. Don’t spend too much, though, as the increase in value is not usually as much as the cost of the upgrade. In the yard, make sure the fence is in good condition, the lawn neatly cut, weeds removed, dead plants gone and trees tidy. Ensure there is walking room between outdoor vegetation and the wall of your house. Seal cracks in the driveway. Remove enough junk from your garage so that it can accommodate your car(s). If you need to store things, use a mini storage place or a friend’s garage. Pre-Show Preparation Rule Number One is to remove clutter, indoors and out, and in the closets. Make your house tidier than it has ever been! Let your potential buyers see the space they are purchasing – all of it, and let them imagine how they would fill it. Turn on all the lights. Open windows and curtains, or close the blinds, to suit the weather or time of day. Arrange for kids and pets to be out. Place your detail sheets close to the front door. Make some fresh coffee. Turn off the television. Play some quiet classical music. Light a few scented candles. Always have fresh cut flowers around. Empty all the garbage. Don’t eat strong smelling food the day of any showing. Don't have any appliances running. Showing Give a feature detail sheet to the buyers on entry and take their name and number. Make sure valuables are not easily accessible. Give straightforward answers to questions, and speak frankly about any obvious defects. Don’t try to sell the house, but let the house sell itself. Just point out some of the features they miss. If they don’t know the location very well you can explain the benefits of it. Use the time to learn about the buyer’s timeline, why they are looking in your area, and whether they have a house to sell. This information may be useful during negotiation. A day or so after the visit, contact them to find out what stage they are at with finding a home. Find out what they thought of your house. The Offer An offer should be made in writing, in the form of a contract of purchase and sale. They can be bought cheaply, downloaded or obtained from your lawyer or notary public. You can accept, reject or make a counter offer. The offer should specify: Names and addresses Address of the property and legal description (e.g. something like LT63 SEC5 B7N PL23144) Offered purchase price Deposit, typically 5%, to be paid to and held by the seller's legal representative after subject removal Completion Date, when ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer Possession Date, when the new owner takes the keys, usually a day after completion Adjustment Date, for calculating prorated portions of property taxes (often same as possession date) Included Items, or fixtures and chattels, such as appliances, window coverings etc. Excluded Items, such as appliances, window coverings etc. Subjects, such the buyer approving a home inspection if the inspection reveals faults with a total value above a predetermined amount. Make sure the clause is worded so that the buyer can’t pull out for trivial flaws. Other subjects are the seller providing a satisfactory Property Disclosure Statement, the removal of all liens and the buyer approving a title search. A date is provided when each subject must be removed. A time and date after which the offer will expire Signature(s) Negotiation Borrow a library book on negotiation skills. Keep calm during negotiation. Know your deadlines and bottom line. If you can fit in with the buyer’s deadline you may be able to increase the offer price. There may be onerous subjects in the offer. Examine them to determine whether how much in or the buyer’s favour they are, and whether they are reasonable. In a hot market you can get away without accepting any subjects. In a slow market, you may have no choice but to accept several subjects. The inclusion of appliances or furniture may be a bargaining point. Counter Offer Chances are that you will want to make a counter offer. At this point you could use a transaction-only real estate agent to help you through the negotiation, or a notary public or lawyer to review the offer. If a standard form is used for the contract, there is usually enough space on it to make amendments, initial them, and return the signed offer to the buyer. Legal Aspects If you use a lawyer or notary, as you probably should, make sure you get a firm all-in quote, otherwise you might find yourself being charged for extras you thought were included. Your legal representative will deal with the financial side of the transaction, including preparation of the cost of adjustments. Mortgage etc. Before selling you need to inform your lender of your plans and make the necessary arrangements. And of course close accounts for utilities etc.
The mark MLS® belongs to the CREA/NAR. | |||