FSBO (For Sale By Owners) For Sellers

FSBO (For Sale By Owner) When You Are the Seller

By Nancy Canfield

My son, Dan, talked to me cross country from VA to CA, for a year, about selling his home. What about staging, what’s Title about, what is the scope of Escrow? An Officer in the Military, he was being transferred, and they decided to rent at their next station. He browsed on Zillow and similar free sites, to formulate questions, which is a good idea. Then we consulted on the specifics, the timelines, the importance of the Realtor, which I offered to get him a good referral to, one who practices in VA.

Imagine my surprise when he decided he was prepared enough, despite my objection, to Sell the Home Himself, FSBO. He was confident because the buyer, a Navy Seal, had a good agent, and Dan felt they were all brothers for the cause. Being a good mom, I congratulated them, and said no more. I didn’t want to hear anything that would make me suck in my breath.

Two years later, Dan is being transferred back to home town San Diego, and we shopped for a house online, he and his wife, Liz, made individual then a final trip together, to select one of the homes I had previewed and sent photos, descriptions, and details about. They visited five finalists in the neighborhood they loved, and they made an offer. It’s a bit complicated as Dan and Liz could not come for six months, but as they were expecting their first child in January, they didn’t want to try to maneuver the move with a newborn. So we were able to negotiate the close date for several months in the future, and arrange for the tenants to stay on two more months after closing. Everybody was happy, win/win.

I handled the inspections, the Title Report, The Escrow Documents, the Disclosures with the excellent agent representing the sellers of the house. We negotiated a fair balance on repairs and termite work. I worked with the tenants to detail their best needs, so Dan and Liz could be good landlords.

What really caught my attention was how surprised Dan and Liz were by each milestone, such as inspections, investigating a past leak and how it had been handled, and especially repairs.

“That’s where we really got burned on our house, we agreed to all repairs,” Dan now confided to me. “I didn’t know you could negotiate that, or put a cap on it. That really ate in to our profit.”

The Selling Agent on this home is very competent and has been a joy to work with. But, I have every confidence that at every turn she will do what is best for her clients! That’s our job! Do I think the agent in VA was a good guy? A good agent? Probably.. But his job was to do the best for his buyers who are living happily in the good deal they got on their new home.

Realtor’s Commissions may seem like a lot of money, is a lot of money, but look what you are getting for it. You wouldn’t pull your own teeth. You wouldn’t take out your own appendix. You probably wouldn’t get a pilots license so you could fly to the opposite coast to see your family. Sometimes you have to pay people to do things for you. Just make sure you are getting what you pay for.

Please feel free to contact me with Real Estate questions via my Website, www.NancyCanfield.com. While you’re there, browse over 20,000 homes in San Diego County. Use the Mortgage Calculator. On my blog, check out my Testimonials.

My next article will be, How To Choose A Good Realtor.