Jul 07
13
HOWTO: For Sale By Owner
This is a new blog for me. I’m not new to blogging. I’ve written hundreds of posts on my group blog called The Pentavirate.
I thought an ideal way to start this new blog off was to share some information I’ve learned about selling homes without the use of a real estate agent. In the last 5 years, I’ve bought and sold 4 houses in 3 different markets in 2 different states. 3 out of those 4 houses we sold on our own without the help of a realtor. I’m not in real estate. I don’t buy and sell houses for income, though it’s nice when I make money on the deals. I just happen to work in a very unstable industry making it necessary for me to have to move to different areas a little more often then I would have liked. The main reason I didn’t use agents in those transactions was cost. I usually hadn’t lived in any of those houses for enough time to be able to afford the commission a real estate agent takes and still be able to at least break even. Out of necessity I’ve had to bone up on effective ways to sell my homes on my own.
Here’s the dirty little secret that agents don’t want you to know. Selling a house is not rocket science. It’s well within the abilities of any homeowner out there. An agent will try and scare you about the negotiations and contracts and marketing involved in selling your house. They’ll try and tell you that you’d make more money using an agent then selling it yourself even when you take into account the commission. The National Association of Realtors routinely run commercials discouraging homeowners from selling your house yourself. Their statistics may be true on the average but you can beat the averages easily just by getting a little information and putting in the work required to sell your house.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to post information on what I’ve learned about selling your house For Sale By Owner (FSBO). I do this for the sole reason that I want to help others. I think the Internet is going to cause a fundamental shift in how we buy and sell real estate. I think the role of real estate agents will change significantly just like travel agents back in the mid 1990’s. The only way this shift can happen is by countering the lies and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt) dished out by Realtors and educating people out there who aren’t afraid to do it themselves and take their well deserved equity instead of giving it to someone else who, frankly, doesn’t earn it.
I hope you enjoy the following posts and if you have any comments or suggestions or advice you have learned yourself, please feel free to leave comments and maybe together we can all learn more than we knew before.