Home for Sale by Owner

I would strongly suggest you use a realtor. My husband has been a realtor in this area for about 30 years. YOu might want to consider giving him a call. He is patient, and very familiar with the area and market trends. Russ Ambers - ###-###-#### If you are looking for a new home - you might want to visit his website, www.builderblowouts.info. He is very well connected with the builders in this area, and can usually find excellent deals.

Good Luck!
S.

a friend of mine in colorado just did this but she was friends with the realtor before so it would help if you knew one :) she paid the realtor a flat fee of i think $100 or $200 to get the MLS number and posting. Once she gets a contract on the house she is paying her neighbor who is a lawyer to look over the contracts and give his advice. Again it helped that she knew these people before hand but is something to think about. This way she's not paying realtor fees on her end. Good luck to you.

Hi R.,
We have always sold our homes by ourselves. We have been very successful each time by having a pictured color flyer on the "For Sale" sign for people to take. When we show the house we clean the house completely, declutter, have all the lights on, mellow music, brownies just out of the oven, coffee and drinks available, tables set with dishes and table clothes and centerpieces, candles lit, no pets and one person is there to show the home not the entire family. We make a notebook for each house with information about the home, neighborhood and city with lots of detail. In the notebook is warranty information for refrigerator, stove, microwave, etc. We also take down all of our personal photos in the house so that they can picture themselves in the home instead of you. These are some of the highlights of things we do as we sell our homes.
I hope you are able to sell your home quickly!R.

Hi - I've had my license since 1997. The main reason homes do not sell is price! Have a reputable agent do a market analysis for you. It should be free. I can do that for you or have someone else do it if you haven't already. Once you get it priced right, it should sell. Have resources available for a buyer to go to to get a loan. Some buyers don't know where to start to get a loan. Have flyers available that explain FHA, VA & Conventional loans, and have them show what their monthly mtg payment will be based on what they put as down payment. Lastly, put your home on as many websites as you can. Trulia is one that a lot of people use but there are others. If I can help you with anything, just contact me through my website at www.debbiejeffrey.com.

Hi R.,
I can appreciate your thought process. I am a realtor and the first thing I would like to tell you is that selling with a realtor typically nets an average of 15% more than selling buy owner. These are real statistics. That would more than cover your realtor fees and net you more in your pocket.
Secondly, the market is not as bad as the media makes it out to be. I can't speak for your neighborhood because I don't know where you live. Houses are selling, especially the market ready homes. And some price ranges are selling fast with multiple offers. In fact my office is in need of inventory to sell. We have a lot of buyers who can't find what they are looking for.
You can certainly try selling on you own but do beware of safety issues and legal issues that may crop up.
If after a period of time you consider using a realtor, I would be happy to take a look at your house and give you my evaluation.
You can reach me at ____@____.com
Good luck to you!

Check out www.creakviewrealty.com. They are a pay per service realtor. You can have them list your home on MLS for only $500. You do all the paperwork and pictures, but your house gets on the list. $500 is considerably less than the 3% a realtor would charge. They use a showing service so you are kept informed when people make appointments to look at your house. When you find a buyer you can then choose to go at it alone or pay additional fees to have them negotiate the terms for you and handle the paperwork. It still comes out to less than 3% if you have them do all of this. I sold my parent's home and my own home this way and save thousands of dollars. Well worth the effort!

Go to a Catholic book store and ask about them about which saint statue you should buy. Years ago it came with instructions in the box and you plant it outside your back door. It worked for us, so good luck!

I would recommend going through a realtor. They will cover all of the advertising expenses and get buyers through your door a lot faster. An add in a paper is super expensive, not to mention the fact that it might end up costing you more if your house sits on the market for too long. However, a bad realtor can also cost you money as well. So, if you go the realtor route make sure it is someone that a friend or collegue (someone you know) has used them; and they have a good experience. Anyway, good luck!!

R.

I am an agent here in Coppell. I understand that you want to save money on selling you home yourself, however statics from NAR (National Association of Realtors) show that listing you home with an agent can net you more money and lessen the chances of you being sued. Statics show by listing you can net 12-16% more for your property. I am also a Certified Distressed Property Expert, so if you know of anyone that is having problems making their payments please let me know. I can help them maybe keep their home. Let me know if there is anything you need. I would be glad to send you a sellers disclosure and mineral rights clause.

I have actually sold 2 homes in the past, 1 with a realtor and 1 on my own for the same reason. In the long run, a realtor was able to get more people to see the home, as well as deal with any legal issues that may arise. It was such a headache doing it on my own. I would highly recommend using the realtor instead - the money spent is well worth it!

We sold a house by owner about 5 years ago in Louisiana, but the site we used had an option of listing on the MLS...whatever you can find either a site or a realtor that does specific use pricing, that will list the house on the MLS would be your best bet. As a buyer, I always search www.realtor.com and those listing come from the MLS. You could also send your info to various real estate companies and explain that you are realtor protected...that means that you are willing to pay the 3% commission to any realtor that brings you a client. I would also put that prominantly on my sign so that realtors know you are open to working with an agent. You'll still save 3% (one side of the commision) but may be more lookers if you let realtors know you will pay their commission. Finally, if you really need to sell and can't do it on your own, I would HIGHLY recommend Nicole Smith www.nicolesmith.net as an agent. She has helped us buy 2 houses in the last 4 years and has helped us sell 1 house. She goes above and beyond and is great to work with. She also recently moved, so she feels the pain of moving better than most! I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that you can sell on your own, but you usually get a higher sales price if you use a realtor, so in the end, it's a wash - meaning if you sold your home for $100,000 on your own, you might be able to sell it for $106,000 with a realtor, but their fees would be $6,000, you still net the same. Just a thought. It wouldn't hurt to contact a realtor, and I know Nicole would be open to this, and say "I'd like to talk to you about listing, however I'd really like to try to sell by owner first, but I'd like to know what your fees/etc. would be in case I decide to list with an agent". Good luck!

signs everywhere! advertise in the newspaper- craigslist- I think you might be able to get it on the yahoo real estate listings, there is also the forsalebyowner.com site. some of these you will mostlikely have to pay for but the more you get it out there, the more people will see it. you could also print up some ads and ask to put them up on bulitin(sp?)boards in grocery stores or elsewhere. Also printing up a fact sheet abuot your house (ie. price, bed/bath, sq.ft. and anything that makes your house stand out) and having that avaliable by your for sale sign would help.
Good luck!
~C.

You might try Craiglist, and maybe even the newspaper.

It is a buyer's market which means every buyer who goes to a realtor has dozens of houses to choose from. The buyer gets a long list from the MLS system. If your house isn't on the MLS system, they won't even know about it. Because times are hard, realtors will work for reduced fees. You should negotiate with a realtor to sell your house for a reduced fee. Most will take a greatly reduced fee to sell your house if you buy your next one using them. When you buy a house the seller pays the realtor's fees. Of course, if you don't pay the buyer's realtor fees, you probably won't be able to sell the house. Most buyers use a realtor now.

Also, unless you are certain you can prepare a seller's disclosure, know what an option fee and option period is, can deal with an inspection, know how to renegotiate with lender required repairs versus buyer's desired repairs, know how paying buyer's closing costs affects your bottom line, know what to do with a low appraisal, etc., you might need a realtor's help.

D. Kimbriel
Grandma to 2 beautiful boys

I'm a firm believer in believing and in prayer. But, I'm also a Realtor who knows that selling a house is not like selling a car. There are a lot of things that could go wrong. I've never had a transaction where there wasn't "something" that cropped up. Hopefully you know someone at a Title Company who you know will keep on top of things for you. If you want a recommendation I would be happy to give you the names of some of my favorites.
Even though you want to save money and times are tough, statistically houses that are listed with a full-service Realtor actually net the seller more money - and way fewer headaches.
I would recommend really doing your homework. Also, be safe! Do not let someone come in your house when you're home alone!
Stage your home. Remember that if they can't see a portion of the floor, wall, or anything else, then you aren't selling them on that portion.
I second the idea of Craig's list. It's free. But you need to post your house daily - with changes or it goes to the bottom of the list too quickly. Also, post it at different times of the day to try to hit some of the people who look at certain times.
Get on the MLS! 85% of home buyers are looking online now. Competition is stiff - you definitely don't want to start out with a huge disadvantage.
Our company site has a great section of information for For Sale by Owner. http://www.dfwhomes.net

My prayers are with you too!

T. Camp
www.dfwhomesrealty.com

R.,

My advice to you would be to consult with a professional realtor. Research in your area and interview a few. In today's market you will find that most will work with you to get the maximum return on your property. I have recently purchased a home myself and was amazed to find some unexpected turns at closing. Your realtor will be there to walk you through from start to finish.

As said in previously postings it is best to have your home staged before all marketing pictures and open houses are done. It is best to have someone who has no emotional connection to the home come in and walk you through this process. I would suggest you going onto realtor.com or similiar sites and view different photos to see how important this is. Please take a moment to view my website at www.erdesignsolutions.com to see a few of our home staging transformations.

Good Luck in this process...

HI, Post weekly ads on Craigs list and make up a flyer iwth good photos of your home and information (Like a realtor flyer) and send it to all the local and surrounding realtor offices. you can even schedule open houses you host yourslef, call realtor offices and invite them to the open houses, have finger foods and wine and make sure you stage your house. get rid of as much stuff as you can so it looks like a generic model house that a buyer can picture themselves in. if you have too much clutter and personal items then they can't see past the mess they will not see the house itself.

good luck
A. J

Where is it? I have a friend who's looking to buy!

we sold two of our houses without a realator, but it was in a better market. The first thing we did was stage the house. If you have too much furniture in it put some in storage remove all personal pictures. you want the buyer to see themselves living in your house. clean your carpets and shine your floors have your house move in ready.You will also need to price it right. what are the houses going for in your neighborhood.take pics of some of ur main rms make flyers and get a case to hold them from lowes or homedepot put it in ur yard.when you are showing it have soothing pleasent music playing.cookies baking. you can try assit2sell.com but we sold the first one by open houses and prayer.always have someone with you for saftey. hope this helps. send me a message
if you have any more questions

A friend of ours did the realtor thing, then listed hers on craigs list, changed one word and each monday so it would put it back at top of list and sold it for asking price.
Good luck! L. B

The market is VERY slow right now. Houses are selling at a VERY slow pace even with realtors. Prepare to be on the market for a while. Have realistic expectations. I can tell you that it wont be easy to have a lot of people come to your house without advertising to people who are looking, like zip realty or realtor. Craigslist is your only free option, you can also list with a broker who does flat fees, they will charge you between 500 and 1k flat to list on mls but you do all the work. Also staging your home is SO important. De clutter and keep it organized. Good luck.

I dont know if you know of or like Dave Ramsey at all, but he is the financial advisor who recommends getting out of all debt, even if it means eating rice and beans.

He is on 570am in the afternoons, from like 2-4pm or something like that. I turn him on when I am out running errands.

Dave is all about saving money. Never buy a new car, dont eat out except for special days, etc. But the one thing that Dave does say is that you need a realtor and it is worth the money you pay.

When callers call in he does the math with them, how much interest of the current loan they are wasting each month times how long the house has been on the market and could be on the market. When you start adding all that up, you are wasting the money anyway letting it sit there and not having someone professional getting out there pushing it for you.

He also mentions that there are lots of other costly mistakes that could be made at negotiations and closing. I would check him out at www.daveramsey.com or on the radio. He also has a list of top notch relators in the DFW area he reccomends on his website.

If you do decide to continue to go it alone, I agree with a previous posters. Pray, decluter.... have a honest friend come through and tell you what to get out and box it up and store it away.

GL!

Check with our local Board or Realtors (MetroTex) and see if they offer an "insertion" option to list your home in the MLS as a For Sale By Owner; this might cost $500, but will give your house the best exposure. Then also post it for sale on Craigslist, For Sale By Owner.com, Yahoo.com real estate, and anywhere else on the internet you can find.

Where is NWBO we are new to town and looking for a home.

R., I know times are tough and we all want to save money; however, studies have shown that having a Realtor can get you more money for your home and you don't have to deal with the hassles of dealing with the paperwork, title companies, etc. I recently had a deal where my client bought a home from a "for sale by owner" and when it was all said and done, I could have gotten him 10,000 more for his home than what my client bought it for. That would have covered both Realtor fees and put a little extra money in his pocket. I would love to come talk to you with absolutely no obligation. We truly are here to help. Hope to talk to you soon,
T.
###-###-####

Hi R.,

Try marketing on Zillow.com and CraigsList. Good Luck.

OK I am a realtor and here is some advice - consider one of the cheap options to get it on the mls. Have open houses and put ads in the paper and have balloons on your home and signs everywhere - post it on craigslist, and any other online site you can. Post the price on info sheets in your front yardalong with pertinent info - not personal stories. And be very friendly in your advertisement! You will have to work it like a job. Tell as many people as you can. If your local grocery store will let you put a flyer there and anywhere else you can. Good luck!

We did the same exact thing as Ruth C. Actually, we had our house with a realtor for a year and nothing. The next year we attempted it again but on our own this time and seriously sold it to the first person who looked at it, within one week, for asking price. We put an ad in the paper, made color copies and mailed individually to local real estate agents offering a 2% commission (I would google local Realtor agents and find names that way), and made my house look irresistible. If your house looks good, then no matter who looks at it, they will want it. We also had the warranty/receipt notebook laid out for them to view. This shows them you have kept up with the house's maintenance. etc. Good luck!

Hello, I help people get there houses ready to sell. I would like info. on the house, and can put the word out to the people I work with. You have to advertise. You can have the greatest house in the neighborhood, but if buyers don't know it's there, they can't buy it. Where to advertise would depend upon the value of the house.Doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. Even creating a flyer with a good photo, and basic info on the house, size,#of bedroom bath etc.And put it at churchs etc. in the neighborhood that would have buyers interested in your area. Signs all around your neighborhood, with balloons on the weekend. If you need any help with repairs, let me know, thats what we do is help people sell their houses. My husband and I recently did a few minor repairs for a Frisco policeman, and he sold his house in less than a month. Our prices are more than competitive. I'm a grandma of one. My name is C. Anderson, ###-###-#### If you want to ask me a question, I'/...ll be glad to answer. Prayer is your best help, God brought the animals to the ark, and He can bring the right buyer to your house! E-mail ____@____.com