My husband and I want to put our house on the market this coming Spring. But since the market is so slow right now we don't want to pay for a realtor to list it for a long period of time. Does anyone have experience with any For Sale By Owner type listings?
You dont have to pay a realtor just for listing your home, you only pay them if it sells. Statistics show that putting your home up for sale with a realtor increases your chances of selling your home. You can also negotiate the realtors commission escpecially if you are looking to purchase another home as they would be assisting you in the purchase & getting a commission.
If you really want to sell your house, I highly recommend getting a Realtor. They only get paid if you sell, and what you are paying for is advertising.
I have two friend's that have been trying to sell their homes in this market without a realtor. The first couple has had no luck, even though they keep dropping the asking price. If you don't get any foot traffic, you aren't going to get any offers. Many realtor's won't show For Sale by Owner homes, so that closes you off to a large segment of the buying population. My other friend originally had it up for offer with a realtor but after no movement for 4 months, decided to just put a For Sale By owner sign in her yard and see what happens. She got an offer, but the lady is having a hard time finding a loan.
We have sold 5 houses by ownwer, with no problems. All within a matter of weeks. Personally we did not have a problem with realtors coming through. We put signs up at intersections and held 1 open house. That being said, it was in a completely differnet market, our houses were all in great locations,and we had great houses that showed very well. We have lots of friends who are realtors, that have tried to discourage us from doing on our own. These same realtors expressed their surpise that we have been so succesful with these houses that we have sold. Saying we just have had great luck.---we make our own luck! :) You will need a lawyer to help.( My SIL works for an attorny)
The house we are in now, we would like to sell in a year or two. We certainly will try it on our own, what would it hurt (no hurry), but of course the market will be on our mind. If it did not work then we would use a realtor.
All this has been OUR experience! Good luck!
Hi JB,
I am a Realtor, GRI, e-pro in Wheaton. It is a tough time to sell, and even tougher by owner. If you'd like,
I'd be happy to give you a no obligation Competitive market analysis so you can see what your home price would be like in this market. Things Are starting to pick up this spring. I have a closing next week with some first time home buyers. Feel free to give me a call. My direct line is ###-###-####. I'd be happy to help.
J. Barlow
