# Selling FSBO



## Huntmo1 (Nov 30, 2011)

Just curious who has had experience selling their own home FSBO? How was the experience, would you do it again?

I'm not selling right now, but will be in the future and I'd like to learn more about it so I can try and save some money. 

Thanks.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

lanewilliam21 said:


> Just curious who has had experience selling their own home FSBO? How was the experience, would you do it again?
> 
> I'm not selling right now, but will be in the future and I'd like to learn more about it so I can try and save some money.
> 
> Thanks.


I dont recommend selling or buying real estate without benefit of either a realtor or an attorney familiar with real estate law. But then I dont recommend taking ones own appendix out either..... for the very same reasons. Its a high risk gamble, in a high stakes game.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Selling a house ain't rocket science.

My best advice would be to make the property ready (clean and in good repair) BEFORE you put it on the market. Do your own competitive market analysis and set a reasonable price. Advertise aggressively. Remember that the first month is your best chance for selling, so make an all-out effort right out of the gates.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

One of the problems of FSBO is that buyers know that you aren't paying a realtor and they aren't willing to give you the extra money, they want to save it. You also cut down all the contacts a good realtor has as well as MLS listings.


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

My motto is "You do what you do well, and you pay others to do what they do well." While I am quite frugal, when it comes to major matters or would involve any legalities, I think it is well worth the money to pay a realtor/attorney. A realtor will very much earn every dime they are charging you. JMHO


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I'm happy to take the entire commission right off the price to sell by owner. The lower price will get it sold faster.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

oregon woodsmok said:


> I'm happy to take the entire commission right off the price to sell by owner. The lower price will get it sold faster.


I agree with that, if you are willing to do that FSBO is great in many cases. I had the impression the OP wanted to save the realtor fees for himself. 

How do you handle it if the buyer has a buyers agent?


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## Conhntr (Aug 7, 2010)

Most buyers agents wont show fsbo. Unless you work out an alternative pay system up fron ahead of time


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

Conhntr said:


> Most buyers agents wont show fsbo. Unless you work out an alternative pay system up fron ahead of time


My experience also.

Weâve now bought and sold 5 houses, including this one (weâre now under contract) and our new one thatâs finishing up construction. We tried FSBO on our first house, with less than spectacular results. As a matter of fact, once we turned it over to a realtor, the eventual buyer was a guy that we showed it to while we were FSBOing. When I asked them why, they replied that they were more comfortable working through a realtor. 

After that experience, I swore weâd never try it again. Between dealing with unqualified knuckleheads, the idly curios, and folks that had no idea what it meant/took to buy a house, Iâm now happy to let the professionals handle it. 
I realize that the 6 or 7% commission is pretty steep, but so was missing time from work to conduct showings that went ânowhereâ. As one of the other posters pointed out, youâll be more or less on your own, the local realty offices wonât show your house without some form of contract. The times Iâve inquired about a FSBO house, the realtor I was working with did his/her best to steer us clear. 

Our current house, now under contract was on the market for about 5 weeks. We didnât have to deal with any chuckleheads, our realtor was/is squared away, and it was overall a very good experience. In most military towns (this is one) folks transferring have limited time to house shop, so they go through a realtor and have houses with their âfeaturesâ lined up for their buying trip. 

Chuck


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

willow_girl said:


> Selling a house ain't rocket science.


Quite true.... and I made a whole lot more money off of people who "didnt need no realtors" than those who opted to list with me during my years in the game. I averaged about 3 percent of the sales price on a listed property. Those that I purchased outright and resold.... somewhere in the 25 to 50 percent range. To be fair, I always did my best to get folks to list with me first.... but if they didnt want to go that route, they became fair game. I also never haggled price, I gave them exactly what they asked for.


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## StatHaldol (Sep 1, 2006)

If you DO decide to go the FSBO route without a RE agent, at least use the service of a RE attorney to close. 

Also PLEASE put information about your home and property WITH THE TIMES YOU WILL SHOW YOUR HOUSE, in a flyer in a box at the road.

Only show your home at times when two or more of you are present. Moms home alone or with children, please don't show your home to strangers.

This has happened in our area with deadly results.


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## Hoopjohn (Mar 8, 2013)

So many variables on doing the FSBO thing.

I tried it on a house I owned a few years back. It didn't work. I had people that didn't have a clue about financing, property taxes, etc look at the place with clueless impossible offers. I know selling ones home isn't rocket science, but I do like the fact that realtors tend to weed out buyers without the financial means to complete the transaction. 

I also sold vacant property on my own, and things worked out great.

I would probably sell vacant land in the future the FSBO route, but leave houses for the realtors.


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## mountainwmn (Sep 11, 2009)

I always use a realtor, even when I sell the place myself. To me it's worth it. They deal with all the legal stuff and with the people. My last house, people seemed to think it was ok to stop over and harrass me instead of calling the realtor. I got very tired of pushy city people and outright crazy people, and the guy who actually bought it, who would stop over at all hours with his extended family for no real reason. And when I say extended family, I mean sometimes more than one car full of people would stop over. And that was with my realtor calling him and telling him to knock it off.


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## Tinker (Apr 5, 2004)

We have sold 2 on our own, and about 8 through realtors. It depends on the property, and how soon you need to sell. Our 1st FSBO was a rental we owned next to our house. We weren't in a rush, but it sold fast. The second was after hubby retired. I moved back east, and he stayed in OK till our place sold. We did contract with an agent to do all the closing paperwork on that one. I think we paid her $1,000.00. We worked with her from the beginning, and had the buyer contact her with what was necessary for closing. Again on this one, we were not in a rush.

In todays market, I would probably use an agent, just to get maximum exposure.


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