Top 10 FSBO Tips to Selling Your Home by Owner

By using some simple FSBO (For Sale by Owner) tips and techniques, the average homeowner can sell his or her own home without the assistance of a typical listing agent. You can sell your own home and save thousands, but it takes work and commitment.

Below you will read some simple strategies that can stack the odds in your favor, greatly increasing your chances for success when selling on your own.

FSBO Tip 1. Know real estate market.

It is imperative that you know what is going on in your subdivision, community and town. Most FSBO's just log onto Realtor.com and look at the price of the homes that are for sale. Unfortunately, that's like trying to cross a four lane highway and only looking one direction. What you don't see can kill you, or in this case, your sale. It is imperative that you know the SALES in your area for at least the past 3 months, and preferably the past 6 months. (feel free to contact me for this information with no commitment expected)

FSBO Tip 2. Timing is everything.

It's important to know what kind of market you're in. Are you in a buyer's market, seller's market and just as important, which way is the market going? It may be a buyer's market now, but showing steady signs of improvement, and the converse may be true as well. Timing is going to play a crucial role in the pricing of your home.

FSBO Tip 3. Consider offering compensation to a buyer's agent.

Most buyers realize the huge benefit of using a buyer's agent since the seller pays for it. If they're not using a buyer's agent then the buyer is definitely going to offer you at least 6% below MARKET value because why would a buyer let the seller save all the money from not hiring an agent? More importantly, by offering compensation to a buyer's agent you can then market to all the buyer's agents in town and have them all working for you to find you a buyer's agent. That's why we recommend a FSBO on the MLS program where you list your home on the MLS for a low flat fee ($295) and offer compensation to a buyer's agent.

FSBO Tip 4. You're selling a house not a home.

While it's important to become emotionally detached, you don't have to become a robot. After all this is your home, be objective but don't be cold. Keep in mind that people are going to perceive your home differently than you do. Either way remain positive and ultimately the right person will walk through the door and buy your home. Be sure to remove any "wall of fames" from the house. If you have a wall with a couple dozen family photos, please consider removing a lot of them, you want buyers looking at the house, not your trip to Egypt.

FSBO Tip 5. How to determine the fair market price of your home.

This always seems to be a real tricky one. For many home sellers this typically reveals itself as a major point of contention. When trying to decide on a price guessing or basing your asking price on hearsay or nontraditional methods immediately reduces your negotiating advantage. Basing your price on what the house down the street sold for or what media outlets perceives as increased market value is not the way to get a legitimate price either. There are only two legitimate and well-recognized ways of determining a fair market value. Contact a real estate agent to provide you with a CMA otherwise known as a comparative market analysis. Most FSBO on the MLS companies will do this for you as well if you don't want to hear a sales pitch from an agent.

FSBO Tip 6. Preparing your home for sale.

Today's real estate market rewards those homeowners that place a high-value on neatness as well as cleanliness. It not only adds value but also generally promotes a quicker and more profitable sale. Once again the depersonalizing of your home helps your prospect with such an emotional decision. De-cluttering the inside of a home is also key to your preparation. If necessary, rent out a small storage space and store some household items there. Just as a side note, having a garage sale is also a great way of getting rid of items that clutter up the house. Not only do you get rid of the items but also you make a little money in the process.

FSBO Tip 7. Start spreading the news.

It should be understood if you're going to sell your home and you're going to do it yourself, the easiest way to get the word out is to put a sign in your yard. This will immediately get the attention of anybody that happens to ride by. Naturally, this is the essence of selling on your own. Coming up with a highlight sheet to outline the key features of your home is a must. With the readily available use of word processing programs putting together a simple highlight sheet is easy and be sure to include photos. There are also a number of free and low cost resources on the internet, not to mention all the social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be powerful.

FSBO Tip 8. Knowing a few, negotiating skills will get you a long way.

It's not necessary to become the next great diplomat. You will want to keep in mind that it's necessary to keep your emotions and personal feelings regarding the negotiating price of your property in check. When discussing the selling price it's important that your calculations and numbers are correct. This allows you to have greater flexibility and leverage and you can negotiate from a position of strength.

FSBO Tip 9. Qualifying buyers and stopping the lookie loos.

So what's a lookie loo? A lookie loo is a person that comes to your house and looks in everything. They, look in cabinets, closets and drawers check everything out but never make you a serious offer. You need qualified buyers looking at your home or it's going to get very discouraging. One of the best ways of getting qualified prospects is to have them referred by your mortgage broker/lender. You can also take the direct approach. If you're arranging a showing over the phone, go ahead and ask them if they are pre-qualified. Don't be too shy when it comes to your prospects. If you're holding an open house and someone expresses interest in your home go-ahead and ask. Most of the time if they're pre-qualified they love to tell you. So don't worry about asking, it's the right thing to do.

FSBO Tip 10. If all else fails go to where the Realtors hang out.

If after a while, you're not getting the results that you were hoping for you can always go to the MLS option. This doesn't mean that you have to list with a traditional real estate agent or broker. As a private party, you can list your home with your local multiple listing service. Usually this cost a fee but by doing this you automatically expose your house to thousands of potential prospects all over the country. The upside is that you should be able to sell your home in short order. This will sell your home far faster and typically at a higher asking price than selling as a FSBO without the MLS. We recommend you list with a local flat fee company, not a national one. Feel free to contact us for a list of Flat Fee companies in your state.