How to Sell Your Home on Your Own?

Updated on February 01, 2011
Y.D. asks from Chicago, IL
10 answers

I was wondering if anyone out there has had any luck selling their own home and how did you do it? Where to advertise etc....
Thank you

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

www.ForSaleByOwner.com and in this market, be willing to work with agents and pay them a percentage for bringing a buyer. This website has ALL of the paperwork, you will need, etc.

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J.S.

answers from Boston on

We had no problem getting a buyer for our home on our own (we used entryonly.com to get it listed on MLS, which is how things get on places like Realtor.com), and that was in 2006 when the market was just starting to get crazy. Unfortunately, we couldn't close the deal and that's where an experienced Realtor would have made a difference. Selling your home on your own is so much more than effective marketing, showing the place, and getting an offer in. Anyone can do that. Getting through everything else is why Realtors get paid. If we had hired a Realtor in the first place and had closed that sale, we would have sold for $50K more and 6-8 months sooner than we ultimately did. This is a really, really hard market. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Not using a Realtor was the most expensive mistake we made - we eventually did sell, but we had to lower the price by $50K (off of $295 to start so that was a huge percentage) AND pay a the Realtor fee, and pay 2 mortgages (we had already bought our new house) for 10 months. We're still digging out of that mess almost 5 years later.

1 mom found this helpful

B.S.

answers from Saginaw on

My dad sold his second house on his own. He held a open house almost every Sunday or at least every other Sunday until it sold. He ran an ad in the paper. Some of those Sunday's were not successful, but low and behold on one of those Sunday's the right person came by and purchased.

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T.K.

answers from New York on

From what I have heard, you once you place an ad, you will get a lot of phone calls from people who sound like interested buyers and then they turn out to be brokers. If you want to stop that, you have to ask if someone is a broker at the beginning of the call.

Also, you should read those lists of things to make selling your home easier, there's always something on the internet. For example, I've heard a new coat of paint goes a long way, and don't have religious symbols out, because it's too personal to how you decorate, and then people can't imagine themselves in your home. I'm not sure if you are supposed to put away family photos or keep them up.

If open houses every Sunday is too overwhelming, you could plan for one Sunday way in advance, maybe a month, and try to promote it as much as possible on a few different sites like Craig's List, and also emailing all your friends and asking them to pass it on, with the goal to get as many people there as possible. If anyone calls you before, you could always invite them for a private showing. I think there are safety issues with this, so you probably want to make sure you are not the only one home, etc.

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B.F.

answers from Chicago on

We bought a house that was sold by owner through Zillow.com. We also checked Redfin.com a lot (I think they have both, agents and FSBO).
Good luck!

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L.A.

answers from Chattanooga on

We've sold 4 houses on our own (3 in IL!)...but not in this tough market :(
You need really good signage with flyers in a flyer box out in front. Pick up a couple flyers in boxes that Realtor's have put together and copy their style.

In this market, you should not be out to save the sales commission but to have the advantage of offering your home at a much lower price because you aren't having to pay commission. Have a couple realtors out to look at your house and tell you what they think they could sell it for *quickly* (you don't have to say you are planning on selling it yourself) and be prepared to accept at least 10-15% below that (many realtors will give you a higher price than your house is worth, to get you to sign with them...then, every few weeks they will tell you you need to drop the price). Look online to see what comparable houses are asking (but remember, that is not what they may sell for!) If you HAVE to sell your home, you must be realistically priced! If commission around your area is 7%, then offer the house at 3.5% less than what the realtors are telling you and put on your flyer and in your ads "Will cooperate at 3.5%" which means if an agent brings you a buyer, you will give them 3.5% of what the house is sold for. If a buyer comes on their own, be prepared to come down at least 10% below your asking price after negotiations are all said and done. If you have ANYONE make an offer...work with them to get the sale. So many people think their first offer is not good enough and a year later, end up taking way less than that out of desperation. "A bird in the hand...!" Frequently, your first offer is your best offer, so be willing to negotiate. Place as many free ads as you can and keep them current. If you have to pay for an ad, run it every other week and use your local paper or a "Trader" type paper in your area.
Good luck!

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K.F.

answers from Salinas on

We sold our last home ourselves but deducted the amount we would have had to give a realtor from the final price. We already had an interested buyer before we put it on the market and then went through a few weeks of difficult and tense negotiations. It was tough and this was BEFORE the crash. Things were just startling to slide here in CA and we had this feeling that if we didn't sell soon we'd lose a lot of equity, we were right. In retrospect it was way worth it and we saved a ton of time and stress showing the house and waiting for the right buyer, the way things turned out a couple of months would have made a big difference. Things are so different now, even professionals can't seem to sell much in our market. The key is price, there are a ton of houses on the market here that are so overpriced it's crazy. No one will buy a house that's 500k over the appraised value! Look at the selling price of comps, not the asking and be really competitive. If your not good at "haggling" I wouldn't even try. You have to do the job a realtor would do for you. Confidence and business skills are super important. Good luck!

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T.F.

answers from Eugene on

Honestly - if you are willing to put all the time and money into advertising and sell your house on your own. Go for it. My personal opinion - since I have been through it with as a realtor with all the responsibilities that follow with being that licensed person. I will always work with a realtor. A realtor does more than just advertise and puts a sign in your yard. They also go to the court house to see about permits, filing paperwork if there is need to be with the city or county, make the arrangements for inspections, repairs, contact the contractors for work to be done and be there if need be, handle the paperwork in the negotiations. They are there to open the door to show the property during the time when you are away or working. They also know the market better than anyone else. Believe it or not they put a lot of time and effort into the sale of the house. And they don't get paid until your house sells. So they are working basically for free until your house is sold.

With that said....this is what I would do if I were you. Call a realtor let them know that you are wondering what your house is worth. They should do a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) it should be free no charge. It's like an appraisal but not a complete full blown appraisal ($450.00 average cost) that you would pay for at closing. Then you will have an idea of how much other houses are going for. You will also need to decide yourself if you are willing to work with a realtor if a buyer comes by with someone to represent them...and be prepared for that too. The standard commission is 3% - generally for one sided contracts. Then go get a sign and make those flyers.

You can advertise on many sites for For Sale By Owners (FSBO), and Craigslist on the internet. What you want to do is make flyers and put them by the sign out in your yard so when people drive by they can take one. When you put an arrow sign on the street corner or other directional signs be careful on where you put them. Sometimes the city or other people will take them down.

Let's say your house is worth $200,000 - 6% of that is $12,000. Unless the realtor sells that house all by themselves they would get the whole amount. But if there is a buyer's agent then they will have to split it which brings it down to $6,000. Plus then as your Selling agent he/she will have to split that commission with the office that they work for (60/40 split that's what mine was when I started out...horrible I know huh), the processing fee ($210.00), the desk fee and so on. Then what ever is left over they have to take out taxes. In our state we have Federal and State. If I would have gotten a $6,000 commission check - it would ended up being about $2300 take home after taxes and office fees that would come along with that.

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G.H.

answers from Chicago on

craigslist, bookoo.com (a neighbor sold hers on this site), forsalebyowner.com
you should have your own inspection done, consider hiring a staging company

M.3.

answers from St. Louis on

Its going to be hard in this market, but Craigslist is a great way to get it out there!

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