So You Want to Sell Your House,

FOR SALE BY OWNER! (FSBO)

1.   Expending large amount of time marketing to unqualified buyers

2.   REALTORS: a) Knowingly dealing with real estate agents telling you – you can’t sell the house yourself in this market OR b) Unknowingly being set up by real estate agents when they bring a supposed buyer into your house.

I’d like to offer these suggestions to help you sell your home:

·         BUYER’S MARKET – These last 7 years have been the toughest for pre-owned home sellers. The inventory of pre-owned homes far exceeds the number of buyers in the market. There are a couple of absolutes your home must meet as minimum if you desire to sell at or above the market price. A) Buyers are more educated on sales prices than ever before. They have access to the MLS and know exactly what houses in your subdivision are selling for. Since these sales figures are of listed properties, these buyers KNOW a FSBO should sell for less since there are commissions for two agents missing. B) There are two types of buyers in this market. The first want to back their U-Haul into the driveway, unload boxes and begin living. For these, the house has to be painted inside with neutral colors, flooring must be the acceptable types in most of the important rooms and yard has to have some improvements. ALL others are expecting to steal a house to fix it up the way they want. Usually,…not much in between the two. Just too many choices.

·         Tips to help you sell FSBO: If a subdivision has an average sales price of $100/sq ft then BUYERS WOULD KNOW the net for homes sold through the MLS would be $94/sq ft (commission deleted only) for house sold FSBO. Sellers should want to attract ALL BUYERS in their market which would mean FSBO need to work with buyers represented by Realtors and pay the buyer’s agent to bring their buyers into YOUR house. Listings that have the buyer’s agent’s commissions posted for less than 3% DO NOT typically get shown. FSBOs can save the 3% most successful listing agents charge to market your home and still NET $97/sq ft in the price example above.

·         Become acquainted with the "One Time Showing Agreement." This is a one page form that should be presented to you from EVERY agent that has a serious buyer they are working with. It identifies the buyer and puts in writing that if the Realtor’s buyer purchases your home, you will pay the agreed on commissions you and the Realtor have discussed. It only covers the buyer they represent under contract though and does not obligate you beyond that one buyer named. You can negotiate the commission but keep in mind,…Realtors typically determine the houses they show their clients under buyer’s rep agreements. If there are 10 comparable houses listed in your community and are offered at 3% commission,….you may or may not get them into your house. This form also flushes out Realtors that are "wolves in sheep’s clothing." Be sure the agent has a Buyer’s Rep in place before you sign the agreement. If not,..technically the Realtor would represent you since it is the only executed contract.

·         Just to cover the basics,…your house has to be decorated for the average buyer in your home’s price range. Buyers do not pay extra for the upgrades and updates that fit your taste. The house has to be priced per "buyer assessed value" NO MORE OR NO LESS. In your case as a FSBO,…refer to the example for pricing provided in the previous e-mail. Finally,…every house that sells had marketing done. That’s what we’ll address for the remainder of this e-mail.

·         First key in marketing in this market is the Internet.

·         Second,..the Internet.

·         Third,…….the Internet.

·         Measure the width of your FSBO sign and find a local sign company that can make you a rider that fills the frame area below the for sale sign. These sign companies can make the rider from corrugated plastic, PVC, laminated/painted steel or aluminum. The materials are in order of cost. The information should be in RED capital letters and as large a font size to fill the entire rider,…both sides. Real simple,…REALTORS WELCOME. This is a known statement by FSBO that tell agents driving by the house that you are willing to pay a buyer’s agent their commissions to bring their clients. I strongly suggest you don’t go below 3%. Most agents that have legitimate buyers will want you to sign a "One Time Showing Agreement." This requires the agent to put in writing who their client is and you have to put in writing your willingness to pay them their commission. It DOES NOT bind you to them beyond that one buyer.

·         Have a flyer similar to the one below prepared electronically and color copies out at your "for sale" sign.

·         Create a folder on your computer with 1) The flyer, 2) The pictures used on the flyer and 3) Digital pictures of the Living and Dining areas, Master Bedroom & Bath, Kitchen and the front and back yards & any spectacular feature(s) outside. Make them come see the rest of the house. On the back of the flyer, have ALL the rooms listed and dimensions by width (N-S) & length (E-W). Make sure you show the N-S-E-W layout.

·         There are Virtual Tours available to you that can be accessed online for as many 360 degree shots as you’d like to pay for. Standard packages should offer 3-5 360 degree views with an upcharge for additional shots. Usually the vendor will provide you a web address to use in your marketing. Be sure to test the vendor’s sites for loading speeds & accuracy and testimonials online.

·         Make 2 or 3 CDs with the folder contents (flyer, pictures & Virtual Tour) and have them at your front door for when Realtors knock,..and they will.

·         Each agent that contacts you by phone, mail or in person,…tell them you want your house advertised at their website, their company’s website and all other websites they have access to. Tell the agents NOT to show your address or contact information but rather have the buyers contact the Realtors for further information.

·         Inform ALL Realtors ONLY pre-approved buyers can look at your home and must present an approval letter before showing. Most can scan and e-mail to you. DON’T mistake a "pre-approval letter" for a full approval letter. The latter requires a full application and loads of financial information for the underwriters to rubber stamp a loan approval. Short of that,…the agent is working with tire kickers. Don’t let them in. You’ll have your house tied up in a contract waiting to see if the buyers can even get a loan.

·         The beauty of this marketing is the Realtors will love you for this format. It drives buyers from their site to actually make contact with them to gain access to your home. The beauty of the marketing for you,…the Realtor does all the work of pre-approving the buyer and represents the buyers through the purchase process. Takes a lot of the legal issues off your side of the plate.

·         You still have to provide a Seller’s Disclosure to all buyers and are responsible for the validity for 5 years,…so disclose disclose disclose.

If you need any of these forms,…I’ll be happy to send you blanks.

Since 2002,…I have averaged 41 days on the market for sellers like yourself. Eleven times my marketing has sold a house the first week on the market and 8 times the house sold the first day on the market. My last sale in a week was in May 2008 so the market has definitely slowed down. There are buyers purchasing homes in every market.

Kind regards,

Billy Waddell

www.TarrantCntyHomes.com

e-Pro Realtor

Certified Loss Mitigation & BPO Agent

Certified SFR - Short Sale & Foreclosure Resourse

New Century Realty Group

Jimmy Valentino – Broker

CELL:                      817/896-0768

FAX:                       817/510-1202

MAILTO:Billy@BillyWaddell.com