Southern California Real Estate by Phil McCollum

Helping You Sell Your Home...

For Sale By Owner Marketing Resources

For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties are intended to save the owner a sales commission. That can be a substantial amount of money, so the motivation is clear.

Unfortunately, the success rate is poor, usually resulting in months of futile effort and ultimately the usage of a real estate agent to get the home sold.

Let me start this discussion by saying that you can sell your home yourself. To do so, you'll first need to obtain the necessary contracts and disclosures and get them filled out correctly. You'll also need to have an understanding of market conditions to establish the proper price for your home. Again, this is possible if you do a little research.

Finally, you need to attract prospective buyers to your property, have them take a look, and ultimately have someone write an offer that you can accept.

The last step is the most difficult. The problem experienced by FSBO sellers is simply that most home buyers utilize real estate agents to find their home and agents work together to sell homes through their Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

What FSBO sellers forget, or ignore, is that out of the typical 6% sales commission, half of the sales commission is typically offered as an incentive for buyer's agents to show the property to their clients and get it sold. Without an incentive, getting agents to show the property is next to impossible.

That leaves buyers who are not working with an agent. Sure, some will visit open houses or call for information after driving past the property, but most are not serious buyers.

And even when you find a real buyer, some will be uncomfortable going forward with the purchase without representation by a real estate agent.

Anyway, if you are intent on going FSBO, then you will be interested in the resources I've provided on this page.

www.ForSaleByOwner.com

www.ByOwner.com

www.FSBO.com

www.Real-Estate-ByOwner.com

www.Owners.com

www.4SaleByOwner.com

www.SaleByOwner.com

www.FSBOconnection.com

www.SellYourHomeYourself.com

www.FSBOnetwork.com

www.AllTheListings.com

www.FSBO.net

I found these links doing a quick Google search. You should start with these resources, or do your own searches to see what you uncover. Beyond that, once you understand the disadvantages of selling your own property and are convinced that's the way you want to go, I suggest you head over to Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller and buy a couple books on the subject.

Selling your home is a big undertaking and you'll want to be well prepared.

Even with all the marketing advantages of a real estate agent, it can take months to find a buyer. Without those advantages, it will likely take longer.

Best of luck, and if things don't go as well as you had planned, you can always list your home with an agent and get it sold.

FREE Home Seller's Guide

Selling your home can be pleasant experience, or extremely painful and frustrating. It helps to educate yourself at the beginning of the process, before you actually put your home on the market. Preparation will go a long way to making the experience a good one. Here are the most important considerations:

You will need to prepare your home for sale. What I mean here is that you need to transform your home from "the place where you live" into the future home of a prospective buyer. There's much you can do to improve the appearance and appeal of you home.

You will need to determine the fair market value of your home. That may be easy or not, depending on what nearby homes have been sold recently, and market conditions. We are living in turbulent times, so it really pays to do your research and get this right.

In order to find a buyer, you must gain maximum exposure for your home, and present it in the best possible light.

Next, once an offer has been received comes the delicate stage of negotiation and acceptance of an offer. Care must be taken to select a well-qualified buyer and maximize your net proceeds from the sale.

Finally, there are intangible elements throughout the sales process that must be handled. Issues can arise that can put your sale in jeopardy and you need to work through it all to a closed escrow.

My Home Seller's Guide is your starting point to address all these elements, to get educated and prepared for a successful sale.

I wrote this report for you, to help you make the sales process proceed smoothly from start to finish.

You can get a copy of my report for free. Simply fill in the form below and it's all yours!

Miscellaneous Costs

The sales commission is the largest cost associated with selling your home, but certainly not the only cost. You should also expect to pay for the following services:

Escrow - you will need a 3rd party escrow to prepare the paperwork and hold the buyer's monies until the sale is recorded.

Title Insurance - it is customary for the seller to pay for the owner's title insurance policy.

Home Inspection - getting your own home inspection is optional but it's a very good idea to know whether there are any problems that will need to be corrected.

Home Warranty - it is customary to provide a one-year home warranty to give the buyer protection against unforeseen problems with systems in the home.

Advertising - you may need to purchase signs, print flyers, place ads in newspapers or magazines to attract attention to your property.