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10 Mistakes For Sale By Owners Make And How To Correct Them
This report is designed to reveal to you some of the mistakes that For Sale By Owners make and how you can avoid them.
A number of homeowners attempt to sell their own homes without a Realtor. The obvious reason, of course, is to save the commission.
If you can both get your home under contract and to closing without paying a real estate commission, you are to be congratulated.
When going about selling your home yourself make sure you avoid making these mistakes…they could be costly!
Mistake #1 Pricing Your Home Too High
Most For Sale By Owners (FSBO’s) make this mistake. When you price your home too high you get very few calls…Very few showings…And, seldom even an offer.
As you are probably aware most homebuyers use the services of a Realtor when looking for a home. And why not…it doesn’t cost them anything. The seller pays the Realtors fee. Those people looking at FSBO’s without a Realtor are usually doing so for the purpose of saving the commission.
When you price your home for sale be aware that you have both the seller and the buyer looking to save the same Realtors commission?
If you price your home less than fair market value, you might be able to save a portion of the Realtors commission. Call me. I’ll be glad to assist you in pricing your home correctly.
Mistake #2 Leaving The House
When a buyer is going to look at houses, they frequently want to look at more than 1 house. A buyer knows a good buy often times by comparing a home to others that are not so good buys. It’s critical that someone be available to receive calls when a buyer is inquiring about your home by phone and also available to show the home to the prospective buyer.
Mistake #3 Believing Newspaper Ads Will Bring You The Buyer
Very few people that ever call from an ad in the paper buy the home they called about. The truth is that when Realtors run ads for a particular home, they really don’t expect the ad to sell the home. When a Realtor advertises it does bring calls but the Realtor can then convert the phone call into an appointment to show the caller any property for sale with any company in any price range or geographical area. Mistake #4 Not Having Their Home For Sale On The Internet Often the best buyers are searching for homes on the Internet. When people are relocating to this area a high percentage of them go on line and search for a home. When they arrive in town they frequently have a list of homes picked out that they would like to see. Make sure your home is available for the relocating buyer to see. I’d be glad to display your home for sale on my personal web site.
Mistake #4 Not Offering A One Time Showing Fee
No, I’m not referring to listing your home for a long term, exclusive right to sell agreement. You will have Realtors ask you for one time showings. I suggest you accept these offers for a one time showing and offer to pay the Realtor the same amount of money they would receive if they were showing a listing of another Realtor. Yes, you would still be paying a fee if they bought, but probably less than if you signed an exclusive MLS right to sell
Mistake #5 Discouraging Low Offers
So often when a for sale by owner is asked about what price they would really accept, they become defensive and prevent a potential buyer from making a low offer…The seller often times seems offended when anyone asks or implies a price less than is acceptable. Why not just say “I won’t negotiate verbally, but if you bring me a written contract, I’ll consider it.” Never…ever…ever discourage an offer. If someone goes to the trouble to put it in writing, perhaps you can negotiate a higher price after it’s in writing.
Mistake #6 Having An Attorney Write Up The Contract
With all due respect to attorneys, they probably aren’t the ones you want to write up a contract on your home. The attorney probably won’t know as much about writing contracts as an experienced Realtor and they will take too long to write it up. Your buyer may get cold feet and change their mind between seeing your home and getting the contract completed. I would be happy to write up a purchase agreement for you for no more money than your attorney would charge, plus get it done quicker.
Mistake #7 Not Pre Qualifying And Pre Approving Your Buyer
It’s not uncommon for someone to write a purchase agreement to buy a home… Apply for a home loan and then be turned down for their home loan 30 days later. Before you accept a contract from anyone including a Realtor, make sure the buyer has been pre qualified and better yet, pre approved for a loan. I would be happy to assist you in pre qualifying a buyer and together with my mortgage broker get your buyer pre approved.
Mistake #8 Not Recognizing Potential Danger In Showing Your Home
I almost didn’t include this topic because I thought you would think I was exaggerating. Today in most real estate company’s training programs there is a section on Realtor safety. Yes, Realtors have been robbed or assaulted or worse when showing houses. For this reason Realtors are trained to pre screen, pre qualify and get detailed information from potential buyers before showing them houses. Some real estate companies even have a buddy system with codes to insure security when showing houses. Make sure more than one adult is in the home when someone is looking at it.
Mistake #9 Waiting Too Long To List The Property
Most For Sale By Owners put their homes for sale by themselves for a certain period of time and then eventually list with a Realtor. In hindsight most of them were glad they turned it over to a Realtor to professionally market and wished they had done it sooner. If you haven’t put your home on the market yet, as a For Sale By Owner, perhaps you should reconsider and allow a professional to handle it for you. If you already have your home For Sale By Owner, then why not call a Realtor now to discuss their marketing plan for your home. Whenever you want candid information and a marketing plan to get your home sold, call or email. I look forward to meeting you and touring your home.
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