I sold my condo without a realtor. I honestly can’t believe I did it.
I was so intimidated by the whole process, it seemed very overwhelming at first.
But now that it is all over, and we are 6% richer, I am so happy that I sold it by myself.
Although I consider myself no expert, I definitly know more about the whole process now then I did a few months ago…so I thought I would share a little bit about my experience.
I was so intimidated by the whole process, it seemed very overwhelming at first.
But now that it is all over, and we are 6% richer, I am so happy that I sold it by myself.
Although I consider myself no expert, I definitly know more about the whole process now then I did a few months ago…so I thought I would share a little bit about my experience.
For me, the first step when thinking about selling my home was determining a price.
Since I was not convinced that selling by owner was the way I wanted to go, I met with a realtor to talk about listing it. She was kind enough to print off comparable, recent sales, and determine a price that she would list it at. I was very open and honest with her before me even met, telling her that I was leaning towards selling it myself. Since I was so impressed with her, I verbally agreed to list the property with her if I decided to go that route.
My marketing strategy was very simple and but it worked! Here is what I did:
1. I listed the property on my local online classified sites. We have two in Utah…KSL & Craigslist.
2. I made a simple flyer listing the price, features, and pictures.
3. I advertised on my Facebook pages, blog, and Instagram.
4. I told my friends to spread the word!
I consider myself very lucky. We showed the property about 11 times in 2 weeks. I had tons of calls, 2 offers, and lots of interest.
Once you place your property online as For Sale By Owner, your phone will start ringing (like 10 or more times a day!). Unfortunately, most of the calls will be from realtors wanting to list your home. After being stuck on the phone multiple times for way longer than I wanted to be, I finally learned how to answer the questions.
Realtor Question: Is your home listed online still available?
My answer: Yes
Realtor Question: Have you had lots of interest, showings or offers?
My answer: Yes
Realtor Question: What are you doing to market the property?
My answer: I have it listed online, flyers, on social media websites, and lots of friends spreading the word.
Realtor Question: I would love to come view the property and show you my marketing strategy, can we set up at time?
My answer: I appreciate your interest, but I already have a realtor that I plan on using if I do decide to list it.
Realtor Question: If I can show you a way to get you more money, would you be interested in setting up a meeting?
My answer: I appreciate your offer, but I already have an agent lined up if I do plan on listing.
Once I figured out how to answer the questions, my phone calls were much smoother and a lot shorter.
I think one of the reasons I had so much interest in my condo is because of the staging and photography. Here are a few of my tips:
1. Hire a professional photographer or use a good camera to take your own photos. Since the pictures are what get the buyer in the door, good photos are a must.
2. De-Junk and remove any extra furniture and accessories. I took down pictures, placed large toys in closets, and removed any clutter. This helped make my condo feel bigger and cleaner!
3. Make sure your home is clean! I would vacuum, polish faucets, mop floors, and dust everywhere in preparation for each showing.
4. Have fresh flowers. I added fresh flowers in as many rooms as I could.
5. Open all windows prior to showing. This helped me air out my space and make it smell fresh. I also burned a candle during my showings.
1. Determine sales price.
2. Photograph home.
3. Make a flyer.
4. Market, market, market.
5. Schedule showings.
6. Accept an offer
7. Wait for conditions to be removed (the buyer will get an appraisal, have a final walk through, and secure financing).
8. Find a title company (they will walk you through the closing), write the disclosures (telling buyer about any problems you know about) and get the buyer HOA information if your home is part of one.
9. Sign closing papers at the title company.
10. Exchange keys.
11. Celebrate!
We just went online and found the forms we needed.
Here is a list of forms we needed:
1. Real Estate Purchase Contract. We used this one.
2. Addendum (used if any changes are made to the offer). We used this one.
3. Disclosure Form. We used this one.
I’m not sure if these forms are only good in Utah, but you can easily find similar ones online.
Overall it was a very positive experience and saved us 6%!
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Anyone else have good (or bad) luck Selling By Owner? I’d love to hear.
Even with your tips, just the thought would intimidate me but good for you and your extra 6%!!
It really is intimidating, but when you considering the savings it’s worth a try! Plus, you can always list with an agent if it isn’t working out. That was my thought, I mine as well just try myself!
Wow good for you, I don’t know if I would be so brave, to take all that one and the stress, but you made it seem so easy! {www.thepinkzipper.blogspot.ca}
It is SO much easier than I ever knew. Nothing super technical or hard. The title company deals with all the difficult stuff and you pay for the process with a realtor as well!
Wow, Danielle! This post is very inspiring! Thanks so much for sharing. And congrats on your home sale by owner!! We just bought our first home in sugarhouse neighborhood. Now you’ve inspired me to think about selling it on my own in a few years when the time comes. Definitely something to consider.
Love Sugarhouse! Congrats!
did you list your home at the high, mid, or low range of comparable comps? and did you do your own home photography for listing/marketing materials?
We listed high, but only because most of other comparables were foreclosures (boo!) and not a fair representation of our properties interior. Our biggest battle was the appraisal, considering that the other comparables were so much lower!
I did my own photography and marketing, it was simple and didn’t take very long.
Thanks 🙂
You go girl!!
How did you handle the showings themselves…Did you walk them through explaining features or just let them guide themselves and just answer questions at the end?
Oh my, can’t believe some of those realtor questions!…good for you!
Cindy
Danielle, you are seriously so smart!
Good for you! I’ve been thinking about listing myself simply because we’re already going to be stretched to get what we need out of our place! So did the people who bought your home have a realtor or no? Were the title company’s fees expensive? How did you you overcome your appraisal issues? Sorry for all the questions 🙂
Hi Karlee!
No they did not, which was awesome because we dodged the realtor fee on their side too. The title company fees are about 1% I believe…but you pay those regardless if you use a realtor or not! With plenty of staging we were able to overcome some of the appraisal issues but ultimately ended up having to lower our price a little. E-mail me if you have more questions!
Definitely a great choice of house for sale by owner. At least this will entitle you to own every penny with your hard work. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips about selling your property by your own.
Love this post Danielle! Being military, we were hesitant to buy our house knowing we’ll be moving in 2-3 years. But, I have done a lot of research on FSBO and am thinking I might try it when the time comes. The timing of your post is funny, too, as I just sent Rich a link to Young House Love’s posts about how they sold both of their houses FSBO. Thanks for the tips and SO happy for you and your fam!
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…and you’re awesome
Excellent article. Thanks for the info. I’m going to do it!
I am so glad to find your article. We are discussing listing our house FSBO, this gives me clarify. Can you tell me, for that 1% to title, do you have to have that in cash up front? or can it be paid after the sale? (just trying to figure out if we need to have a chunk of cash ready for Title.
I hope you don’t mind me asking, I am a little late on this conversation so not sure if you will find this message – we are planning FSBO, wanted to ask if you had to have that 1% for the title company as cash up front? or are you able to pay that after the closing?
You do have to have that cash, although we worked it into the contract that the seller would pay all closing costs (including the title company fee) so we didn’t need any cash at closing.
If your home has equity greater than the sum of the mortgage pay-off amount plus closing costs such as title company fees and any buyer concessions, you don’t need to have the cash up front or at closing as the equity on your home will cover the cost. If however you do not have the equity, talk to the title company and determine when they want what amount. Typically it is payable at closing but it will vary from transaction to transaction.
We mentioned wanting to FSBO and a realtor told us we’d need to secure a lawyer to draft the documents. Isn’t that something that the title company will do?
You do not need a lawyer. You can do all the paperwork yourself and the title company will handle the money and final signing.