Should I Sell My Home on My Own?

If you ask just about any realtor they will quickly tell you, “No!” I am sure you have driven around town and seen “For Sale By Owner” signs. I will let you know that you can sell your home on your own! Selling a home FSBO (For Sale By Owner) takes a lot of hard work, time, and patience, and not everyone is cut out to do it on their own. It takes more than hanging up a few signs in your neighborhood. A real estate agent or a realtor does a lot more to sell a home than simply putting a listing on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). I think realtors and real estate agents tend to keep their information so tight to the vest that homeowners feel that it is easy to sell a home and they really don’t know what we do to market their homes. If you plan on attempting to sell on your own, you must ask yourself several questions:

• Have you negotiated high-dollar sales previously?
• Are you willing to price your home correctly?
• Are you determined to save money on the sale of your home?
• Are you willing to handle the paperwork yourself or do you need help? If you need help do you have an attorney, mortgage lender, and other professionals ready to help?
• Are you willing to negotiate face-to-face with a buyer (and maybe their real estate agent) determined to save the same money you are trying to save?
• Are you a “do it yourself” type?
• Are you comfortable letting strangers into your home with little notice? 
• Are you able to devote the time needed to prepare and market your home?

If your answer is “no” to any of these questions, you may want to consult and hire a realtor. This is what we do every day. If you answered “yes” to these questions, there are five steps  to selling your home once you price your home correctly. They are:

1. Understanding how to make it look great to any buyer who comes to see it!
2. Understanding how to value your home so that a buyer has bragging rights!
3. Understanding how to get buyers to come see your home!
4. Understanding how to ask the buyer the right questions to see if they are motivated and able to buy your home!
5. Understanding how to prepare the contract, negotiate, and close the deal!

So, if you are ready to sell on your own, I can provide you with a wealth of information to get you going, including elaborating on the five steps previously mentioned, providing you with about a dozen or so websites that are free or inexpensive for you to market your home, among other good nuggets of information.

If you have either sold your home on your own, are currently selling your home on your own, or are considering selling your home on your own, we would love to hear your experiences/thoughts on the subject!