for sale by owner

[Cumberland]

Has anyone done FSBO? Any advice or tips? Any good stories or bad? How did you deal with the buying agent's commission? Did you ask for a good faith estimate when they signed the contract?

My BIL put a contract on a house without being pre-qualified and it took a month before he was finally denied. I really dont want to go through that.

[twinsmom]

We did FSBO and if you know all of the bases to cover, it can really be a benefit - a couple of issues to keep on top of:
MAKE SURE they are pre-APPROVED. Many people will get "pre-qualified", but that doesn't really tell you anything. To get pre-approved, they will have to submit all of their documentations, etc, so the lending company pretty much commits to backing them. Pre-qualification is just based on what the people tell the lending company. We had a couple of people say they were pre-qualified, and when I talked with their mortgage person, there were actually a bunch of wierd issues that would take way too long to be worth anything.

Also, make sure to get a number for the mortgage agent and work with them directly. We had to keep in DAILY contact with the buyers mortgage agent to make sure all of the documents got to where they were supposed to be, and that he didn't short change us (which he tried to do!).

Get a title company that has a good reputation. They will pretty much to all of the paper work for you and help things go very smoothly. Make sure they keep their eye out for any funny stuff that is not in the norm of FSBO contracts.

To take an offer from anyone, have them sign a purchase agreement WITH a good Faith payment of at least $500-$1000 (to cover a month of mortgage in case they back out). The good faith payment is basically something from them letting you know they are serious about this. It actually comes off of the price of the house, but if they back out for any reason other than mortgage issues, you get to keep the payment.

Be VERY WEARY of different finance options, i.e. rent to own, land contracts, etc. We did a rent to own (through an agent - a whole different story in and of itself), and it was a HUGE mistake. The people ended up moving after ONE MONTH and had completely destroyed our kitchen floors (brand new pergo floors!) and ruined part of the freezer. Just go with a straight out sale. (Incidentaly, we fired our agent, and sold the house ourselves within a month!).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to voice them - we just sold ours last april, so the whole saga is all still fresh in my mind. GOOD LUCK!!

Jen B.

I know I am a little late getting in on this post, but I agree with what was said. I worked as a real estate closer until recently. Let me tell you, I have seen it all. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me.

[Cumberland]

Thanks for the advice. I might PM you depending on how things go. The sign went up Weds AM and I am showing it for the 2nd time in a few minutes. I put a flyer on the sign that has alot of details and the asking price so it seems like we aren't getting that many calls, but the ones we are getting are ready to see the house.

Feel free to do so, anytime. Don't get down. It takes a good realtor at least a month or two to get a house sold. My advice for showing the home would to be as much out of their way as possible. Have you seen the A&E show, Sell This House? They have a lot of great tips for "staging" a home. It can make a huge difference just to declutter and depersonalize a home.