7 Steps for Selling Your Home Directly (FSBO)

Dealing with a broker is something not everybody wants to do. To avoid working with an agent, you can always sell your home directly – but it can be a little tricky. Here’s our 7 tips on listing your home for sale by owner.

1. Estimate the Value of Your Home

Determining the value of your home can be difficult without the help of an experienced broker, but it isn’t impossible. Get an appraisal done (check out our tips for maximizing appraised value here) and compare your home to similar homes on the market near you. You can utilize websites like Zillow or Trulia to research home values near you, and consider local tax records for sales data in your area. Click here for more help estimating your home’s sales value.

2. Get Your Home Ready for Showings

If you sell your home without an agent you’ll need to get it showcase ready all by yourself. First things first – make every room spotless. Clean the windows, dust the baseboards, wipe the walls, and remove any clutter. Make any necessary repairs (you don’t want potential buyers seeing chips or dings on appliances or furniture), and consider sprucing up the rooms with fresh paint or new curtains. 

Unless you are a gifted photographer, you should hire a professional to take pictures  of your home for marketing. Take the time to make your home look nice, not just clean. You can use websites like Rooomy to get some great tips on interior design and staging! 

3. Make Your Yard Stunning

Your first impression on a potential buyer is your front yard. Make it look stunning! Trim the bushes, weed the gardens, mow the lawn, and lay some mulch. If you don’t have much of a green thumb, hire a landscaper to fix up your yard. Consider power washing your paneling if necessary to truly make the exterior pop. This will make your home stand out from the beginning!

4. List Your Home

You want to get your home in front of as many homebuyers as possible. That means crossposting your listing on several reputable sites. There are the obvious choices like Zillow – but also consider using more niche sites like FSBO.com and HomeFinder.

In today’s social media world, you can also post your home on sites like Facebook for more exposure. Wherever you post, be sure to keep a log of exactly what sites you use and their login info. If you aren’t tech savvy, get help from a neighbor or friend to make sure your listings are informative, appealing, and eye catching.

5. Be Flexible

When selling directly, you’ll be working with potential buyers one-on-one. Attitude can be the difference between closing the deal or losing it. Be flexible and accommodating where possible to buyers. Remember, they are just as stressed and frustrated in the buying process as you are in the selling process.

6. Handle Paperwork & Negotiate the Price

You will be responsible for reviewing the buyer’s offer and the purchase contract, including any contingencies they have decided on. You will likely also need to provide a disclosure to the buyer. At this stage you may want to use a real estate attorney to ensure you don’t miss any key legal steps. You will also be responsible for handling negotiations. Remember, you want to be accommodating where possible but ready to reject the offer if you must. 

7. Close

This is where all the paperwork is signed, and the keys are delivered. In many states you are required to have a lawyer here, if you don’t already. Hopefully after all your hard work, you have managed to sell your home for a good price without the hassle of a broker!

Selling your home for sale by owner definitely requires more work on your part – but if you take the time to manage the details, you’ll have no problem. For more home sales and buying tips, visit home.llc.

Leave a Reply