My wife and I are getting ready to put our house for sale.  We're gonna try to sell it on our own without a realtor first.  Saving the several thousand dollars from the realtor will be quite beneficial to us.  I've never sold a home as this is my first home.  Is there anything out there that I should be aware of?

It's a tough market.  Good luck!  

Ah....The market sucks!

This is not the time to try selling a house

on your own, you need traffic.

Thankfully I live in an area where the housing crash hasn't gotten hold of very well.  I've been studying up and houses in my price range are averaging less than 60 days on the market.  I live on a main street.  I'm gonna be putting a sign at the road and putting an ad in the paper along with a couple of local penny saver papers.  If I don't sell it within a month or so I'll just go with a realtor.  

First advice, get a good Realtor.  If you do that, you won't need any other advice.  Every statistic available shows that you will sell faster with a Realtor than on your own.  Imagine this scenario:

You list with an agent, who has your home sold in 60 days (industry standard).  Using the agent costs you about 10k in commission.  Now lets say you list on your own and sell in 90 days.  So you have already made another mortgage payment in that time.  You have also spent money on signs and newspaper ads.  Finally, you have to figure out what your time is worth, and add that into the equation because you will spend a lot time running around doing things that an agent would do.  Lastly, what happens when a couple years later the couple that buys the house finds something wrong with it that you were supposed to disclose, but didn't.  Now you're in a very expensive lawsuit.

There is a reason that people get paid to do what they do.  I tried to build a bed once, because I saw one that I wanted but it was too expensive for my tastes.  Well, I ended up spending almost the same amount to build a much poorer bed.

Finally, remember that there are differences between real estate agents and Realtors.  Realtors are required to subscribe to a higher code of ethics than "just obeying the laws."  Make sure your agent is a Realtor.

From a similar post a long time ago

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1205420436/8#8

My apologies for the length

We sold our last house as a FSBO.  There was a FSBO seminar that was offered in our area that we went to one night.  Think it was $25 and worth every penny - highly recommend.  Going FSBO is not a bad option if you have the time to sell.  

There were several factors that led us to go FSBO:

1.      We had time

2.      We were in a high traffic area.

3.      Houses in our neighborhood moved VERY fast

Time this, to me is the most important part.  We were building so we had about 10 12 months to sell and we put our house up a month or so after we started building.  We mapped out a plan that we were going to follow:

0-3 months:  We would FSBO our self with flyers and free postings in the area.  Cost: printing flyers.  Our flyer was very SIMPLE.  People sometimes go overboard with these but ours was one sheet front and back that gave general information.

3-6 months:  List in the local FSBO magazine that would also get us in the MLS.  Cost: $250 - $500 depending upon the listing package.

After 6 months:   Interview and list with a real estate agent.

RW is spot on.  Sell your house at fair market value.  Do not take less just because you are not going to use an agent.  The $10K that you could sell for less because you are not using an agent, use that for concessions during negotiations allowances, home warranty, offer to pay for inspection, etc.  There are a number of web sites that will provide you a report for estimating the value of your home based upon recent sales in the area, comparable houses, tax records, valuations, etc.  Think the one we used cost $95.

Another reason not to discount the price, you have to consider that an agent might be needed eventually.  If you do have to list with an agent, they will be hesitant to raise your already discounted price will send a bad message to buyers who saw the asking price when FSBO.  So, what will happen is that your price will stay the same, but the agent will still take a commission then you are out more than just the $10K.  

Another reason for not discounting the price:  More than likely you will end up selling to a buyer with a buyer's agent.  In our area that commission is 2.5% to 3.5%.  So you need to find out the minimums and factor that into your asking price as well.  The lady that we sold our house too had a buyer's agent.  The first question out of her (agent) was are we willing to pay her commission?  My response was that we were not opposed to it, but would consider during negotiations just like stated on the flyer.  That was the end of it and we did pay her commission as part of the negotiating process.  Once again, do not discount your price.  Ask a fair market price and use the savings for leverage during negotiations.

Couple of things to keep in mind:  The first 20-50 fliers will go to your neighbors and people nearby.  So do not waste your best fancy paper and color printing on this first batch of fliers if that is an issue.  Be sure to note in your flyers that you Will work with brokers and buyers' agents with qualified buyers those last three words are the most crucial.  The agents and brokers will be ringing your phone off the hook the first few weeks - 90% of them are fishing.  Tell them you will work with them if they have qualified buyers.  They will try to push you into singing with them.  Tell them you have a plan do not give time frames and if your house hasn't moved by when you need it too, you will be interviewing agents and will contact them also, use this as an opportunity to pre-interview and screen agents in case you do have to list.  The first few weeks our house was on the market I logged every call.  After 30 calls I quit keeping track.  I probably got another 20-30 calls.

BTW do not let agents host an open house for you.  Several tried that with us.  This is a tactic for them that does not help you at all actually works against you.  They are looking to get people who would not normally go to an agent hosted open house but will go to FSBO open house.  The agent is looking to get these folks as a buyer's agent, and, show them other properties they may have.  This may take away a potential buyer.

One thing that we really got a lot of compliments on that was very helpful for us and buyers that I highly recommend - was that I put together a notebook about the house.  In it was information about the house taxes, evaluations, property disclosure (required by NC), manuals and warranties for appliances (we  replaced A/C, hot water, dishwasher disposal, etc.), recent power bills, recent water bills, information on schools, nearby restaurants, grocery stores, etc., lots of good pictures, pre-sales inspection report (do not get a full blown inspection as the buyer will probably want this anyway with their own inspector), offer to buy contract, and the report that showed how we based our price showed what other homes in the area was selling for.

Let me conclude by saying that I am not anti real estate agent.  Not at all.  After all the interviews with buyers, showings and phone calls, real estate agents earn their money.  It takes a lot of effort and can be very disruptive when you work full time and then have to take time to let total strangers into your house and give them a hosted tour.  We missed and had a lot of late suppers showing the house, but it was worth it.

When we sell the house we are in now we will probably go with agent because we are in an area that does not get a lot of traffic.  We will need the visibility that only an agent can provide.  But, if given the time

PM if you need anything else.  Will be happy to help anyway I can.

Wow!  Very helpful post!  From this post it looks like I've got the majority of it in order.  If it doesn't sell I've already got an idea of a realtor.  It's the same one we used when buying the house.  I agree that realtors do work hard but I also work hard enough to not want to throw 10k dollars into someone elses pocket if I can help it.

Follow-up:

I didn't mean to be so negative. As you read in the referenced post,

I've sold houses FSBO, but that was another time and place. Good

luck to you, I hope you are able to sell the house yourself.

-Kent

RW, I didn't take it as being negative.  I know that the housing market has taken a beating and if I'd have known it would be like this now I'd have sold 2 years ago.  Oh well, I'm still coming out with over 60,000 in equity in the 6 years I've owned the house!  

I think you can actually go to several of the 'office depot' type stores, and buy legally binding documents to sell a house.

There are a few things, other than target practice, that lawyers are

good for and this is one of them. Spend a little money up front on

the closing rather than a whole bunch later if a problem pops up.

8-)

I was a real Estate broker in a former life back in Michigan in the late 60's for about 5 years.  After I retired I got a real estate license down in Florida.

Your time frame is a very important issue, the possibility of selling quickly is enhanced by using a realtor but these are unusual times.

I can give you reasons why a realtor is better, I can also give you reasons why you can do it on your own just as well.

Which ever way you go, my advice to you is price your home realistically and to sharpen your home up, it's a buyers market.  Listen to the negative responses and don't take it personal.

Case in point, my home was for sale with an agent for 8 months with 50 showings.  I then did it myself with only signs and sunday open houses.  The key was that I did some painting and put a new wood floor in, people were negative on carpet.  Improve the landscaping to give it better curb appeal.  Fireplace on, candles, fresh baked pie things like that all add to the warmth of the home.  Believe it or not most homes are sold on curb appeal according to national real estate board.

Lastly........only speak when spoken to, lol. If an agent shows the home, let him or her show it and you leave the house.  If FSBO only answer questions(honestly) when asked, do not volunteer anything, you may accidentally say the wrong the thing to kill the deal.

Once it's sold there are brokers that will for about $500 take care of ordering all the legal work and handle the closing, that's what I did.

First of all, good luck and I hope you sell in a timely manner. One to think about that by selling it yourself, the amount of money that the realtor would charge would be a great savings for someone wanting to buy. That could make the difference whether to purchase or not. I have had bad luck with one realtor and and ending up selling the house without the realtor. Actually the house sold itself. Again, good luck, Jim

Not only will they handle the paperwork and closing but for a nominal fee will list in on the mls.  The majority of homes are sold off the mls, usually from another office.  Pick an agency that has a larger number of agents as they have "tour day" and will get to know your home in person, giving you even better exposure.

An attorney when the time is right is never a bad idea.  Without being negative, the real estate game is unscrupulous and it's out to get you.  

EJ,

Glad my post could be of assistance.  BTW, we DID go with a realtor and sold our house in June last summer (within 3 months).  I have to admit that I was glad we did.  She was a friend of ours and only charged us 3% commission.  We are currently in a holding pattern while we rent a duplex.  There's NOTHING for sale around here.

Good luck selling the house!

BTW. Drmn big, where is your house?  

I sold my first house myself. The most important thing, DISCLOSE any defects, ANY! Even if you think they aren't important. And if your house is pre-1976 I think it is, you must get a lead paint disclosure form.

Selling your house yourself can be kind of a high stakes poker game, sometimes. I had a buyer already lined up for my house when he decided he wanted to renegotiate the price, to compensate for the fact that he might have to rip off 2 roofs and put a new one on in a few years, even though I told him the age of the roofs.

He knew I was building and had a new house I was moving into in a couple of months. I simply put the house back on the market. When he called to ask about the renegotiation, I gave him the bad news. He decided right then and there to accept the agreed upon price.

As stated above, be sure and have a REPUTABLE attorney do the paper work.

Thanks for the replies guys!  Thankfully I bought my house new and it's only 6 years old so defects are pretty much at a bare minimum.  My dad has a friend who is a realtor and he came over and gave us a market assesment on the house.  It was right in line with what I was planning on putting it on the market for.  

Like I said, I'm gonna give this about a month to see what I can do on my own and if it doesn't sell we're gonna list it with my dads friend.  He's gonna charge us 4.5% commission so I feel pretty good about that.  

FOM, we're gonna do the same thing as you and might have to rent for a few months till the right thing pops up.  It's just so hard to sell and find something at the same time right now.  If it all works out we may just build again.

Thanks again for the help fellas!